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Just as Charlotte has grown into a major metropolitan U.S. city, Charlotte's oldest hospital expanded from its quarters in a cramped downtown hotel into a major regional healthcare institution. Repeatedly named Charlotte's most preferred hospital, today Presbyterian is the flagship hospital of Presbyterian Healthcare. Preferred based on National Research Corporation Survey, 1995 - 2000 c.

Presbyterian Hospital opened in 1903 as a 20-bed hospital on North Church Street (now uptown Charlotte).

Later in the hospital moved to the Arlington Hotel on West Trade Street and offered 45 beds. Below the hospital on the first floor were the NC Medical College, a barbershop, fruit stand and the "Last Chance" saloon.

Another Presbyterian institution established in 1903 was the School of Nursing with its first class of three young women. Students staffed the hospital during 12-hour shifts, plus cleaned and cooked - all for $5 per month.

In 1917 a large fundraising effort began to support the hospital's growth, but a year later funds and materials were in short supply due to World War I.

In 1918 Elizabeth College merged with a school in Virginia and Presbyterian used the money it had raised to buy the 20-acre campus located just out side of the city limits at 200 Hawthorne Lane. This new facility more than doubled its size, from 50 to 100 beds, making it Charlotte's largest hospital. People from all over the Carolinas streamed to Presbyterian for medical care.

In the late 1930s and early 1940s Charlotte's booming population was causing a shortage of hospital beds, and nearly all of the 110 beds were always filled. A new seven-story building opened in front of the old Elizabeth College building. The new hospital added operating and recovery rooms, an obstetrics area, children's wards and charity facilities

During the next three decades, Presbyterian embarked on eight major building projects and tripled in size from 188 beds in 1940 to 502 beds in 1972. The hospital led the way in Charlotte with the first intensive care unit, the first outpatient surgery unit and the first ambulant care unit.

In the mid-1960s Presbyterian was spurred on by federal legislation and changed its admissions policy to accept black patients.

The 1970s brought a new Diagnostic and Treatment Center for more outpatient treatment and a new 30-bed emergency room for around-the-clock- medical coverage.

In 1980, the Elizabeth College building was demolished and a new 119-bed patient tower opened, bringing the total number of beds to 554.

Presbyterian's Child Development Center also opened in 1980 and was one of the pioneers in offering on-site childcare to employees.

The Presbyterian Hospital Foundation was formed in 1980 as the hospital's fund-raising arm. One of its first successes resulted in a School of Nursing building designed and built for the school.

In 1983 a new corporate structure based on a holding company concept was formed to reflect the changes in the healthcare industry. Called Presbyterian Health Services Corp., its purpose was to serve as the parent organization for all of the hospital's organizations and corporations except the Foundation.

One of the first projects under the new corporate structure was the opening of an immediate care center in Matthews, about 10 miles southeast of Presbyterian Hospital. It was the first venture away from the main Charlotte campus.

In the mid 1980s, Presbyterian met the continuing demand for outpatient surgery with the opening of SameDay Surgery Center across from the main hospital and opened the Belk Heart Center, an intensive care nursery and a psychiatric unit.

1994 marked the opening of Presbyterian Hospital Matthews, a 102-bed community hospital offering emergency care, inpatient and outpatient services and a family maternity center.

In the 1990s, Hemby Children's Hospital, a hospital-within-a-hospital, opened to meet the needs of children and families. It provides family-centered care and promotes play to encourage faster healing.

In 1996, Presbyterian continued its tradition of being a regional and statewide leader in providing cancer services and hospice care by opening a new Cancer Center. Comprehensive services include radiation oncology, clinical research, inpatient oncology and a stem cell transplant unit.

In 1997 Presbyterian Healthcare System and Carolinas Medicorp Inc. of Winston-Salem announced a merger to form a new healthcare company, Novant Health. Presbyterian Healthcare became the Southern Piedmont Region of NovantHeath. The two non-profit companies serve an area of more than 3.4 million people in North Carolina, southern Virginia and northern South Carolina.

A year later in 1998, Novant Health acquired full ownership of Presbyterian Orthopaedic Hospital, one of six in the nation devoted solely to the diagnosis, care and treatment of injuries and diseases of the bones and joints.

1999 marked the opening of The Buddy Kemp Caring House, a unique community facility offering counseling and educational support for cancer patients and their families.

Presbyterian Healthcare expanded its services in the Lake Norman area by opening NorthPoint Surgery Center in 2000. The Presbyterian NorthPoint building also houses physician offices and outpatient services such as rehabilitation services and mammography screening.

In early 2001, Presbyterian formed the Presbyterian Cardiovascular Institute, which combined the leading-edge cardiac services of the Belk Heart Center with the hospitals neurovascular services. The formed Institute continues to offer complete prevention, diagnostic, treatment and rehabilitation services, including advanced cardiovascular research studies. Physicians from multiple specialties, including cardiology, cardiothoracic and vascular surgery, interventional radiology and primary care worked together to develop the Institute.

Later that year, the Presbyterian Center for Preventive Cardiology opened. The center offers a comprehensive cardiovascular disease management program that helps patients prevent and control the development of heart disease, including risk factor modification related to diet, exercise, smoking cessation, stress reduction and medication to lower cholesterol.

Along with its mission of improving the health of communities, one person at a time, Presbyterian Healthcare takes pride in its advanced technology. One example of exceptional success in our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit occurred in May 2001. A baby who weighed only 10.4 ounces at birth went home from Presbyterian after nearly 11 months of neonatal care. She was one of the smallest babies in the world to survive such a low birth weight.

In 2002, the state gave Presbyterian the green light for a new Womens Center and added 14 more neonatal beds to be part of the new Center slated for completion in 2004.

In May 2002, the much-anticipated approval of Presbyterians request to build a hospital in Huntersville finally became a reality. After over four years of filings, re-filings and appeals, a settlement was reached with the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, and Presbyterian was awarded a Certificate of Need to build Presbyterian Hospital Huntersville.

In 2003, Presbyterian Hospital celebrated its 100th anniversary of providing care to the residents of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg region. The year was marked with activities for employees, a community educational series and a foundation gala. The highlight of the year was the Presbyterian Family Festival on Hawthorne Lane. This celebration was Presbyterians gift to the community as a way of saying thank you for the past 100 years. We look forward to serving you for the next century.

In September 2004, the new Presbyterian Womens Center welcomed its first patient. The new Center added nearly 118,000 square feet of new construction and 113,000 square feet of renovated existing space, including 16 birthing suites with Jacuzzis, 35 postpartum suites and 14 high-risk antepartum suites. The center also includes a lobby with retail space for services unique to women, and large classrooms for education. Renovations to existing units included high-tech improvements, more spacious labor-delivery-postpartum rooms, surgery rooms, and an expanded Hemby Intensive Care Nursery.

Presbyterian Hospital Huntersville opened in October 2004. The 50-bed, $55.7 million facility has a total of 165,000 square feet. Services include an emergency department, five operating rooms, 36 medical-surgical beds, four intensive care unit beds, eight labor-delivery-postpartum beds, and two nursery beds.