Philippine General Hospital

The Philippine General Hospital (also known as University of the Philippines–Philippine General Hospital or UP–Philippine General Hospital), simply referred to as UP–PGH or PGH, is a tertiary state-owned hospital administered and operated by the University of the Philippines Manila. It is designated as the National University Hospital, and the national government referral center.

It stands within a 10-hectare (25-acre) site located at the UP Manila Campus in Ermita, Manila. PGH has 1,100 beds and 400 private beds, and has an estimated of 4,000 employees to serve more than 600,000 patients every year.

The PGH, being the second largest hospital in the country (next to SPMC), is the laboratory hospital of health science students enrolled in the University of the Philippines. This includes students of medicine, nursing, physical therapy, pharmacy, occupational therapy, dentistry, and speech pathology.

There are 16 clinical departments under the Philippine General Hospital — Family and Community Medicine, Anesthesiology, Internal Medicine, Surgery, Neurosciences, Pediatrics, Otorhinolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Ophthalmology, Orthopedics, Rehabilitation Medicine, Psychiatry, Radiology, Pathology, Emergency Medicine, Obstetrics & Gynecology, and Dermatology—all of which offer residency and fellowship training. It also offers various training for paramedical specialties such as nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech pathology, radiation technology, nutrition, hospital dentistry, medical technology and EMT training.

In 1907, The Philippine Commission appropriated around ₱780,000.00 for the construction of the Philippine General Hospital in Manila. The building's cornerstone was laid on February 28, 1908 and the construction contract was awarded to H. Thurber of the Manila Construction Company. The structure for the central administration building, a surgical pavilion with two operating rooms, a building for dispensary and out-clinic, five ward pavilions of sixty beds each, a nurses’ home, a kitchen, an ambulance stable and morgue were completed on November 30, 1909.

The Philippine General Hospital opened its door to the public in September 1910 with three hundred thirty beds and was eventually linked to the Philippine Medical School.^{[citation needed]}

PGH remained open during World War II, where its wards overflowed with victims of the conflict. It treated Filipino, Japanese soldiers and American internees alike, even if the hospital supplies are almost depleted.^{[citation needed]}

In 1981, Architect J. Ramos undertook the master planning of the PGH renovation project. PGH celebrated its centennial in 2007, one hundred years since the United States government passed a law establishing it.