Geisinger through the years: A time line
In 1912, 85-year-old Abigail Geisinger of Catawissa purchased land to begin making better health easier in rural Pennsylvania.
Her vision: a hospital honoring her late husband, a Susquehanna Valley iron magnate. “Make my hospital right. Make it the best,” she directed her fellow founders. In 1915, the George F. Geisinger Memorial Hospital opened in Danville — a little early, spurred by a typhoid epidemic.
Since then, that single hospital has blossomed into an integrated healthcare system. We have 10 hospitals, 25,000 employees, more than 1,700 physicians, a health insurance plan, a research arm and a college that trains doctors, nurses and administrators. Central and northeastern Pennsylvanians enjoy top-notch care, and the entire state can rely on Geisinger Health Plan coverage.
Underpinned by research and innovation, our physician-led system has doubtless become more than Abigail Geisinger ever imagined. We think she’d be proud.
Click below to see the visual representation of Geisinger's history as shown in our print edition of PA Health.
- 1915 – George F. Geisinger Memorial Hospital
1961 – Geisinger Medical Center
1972 – Geisinger Health Plan – Pilot health insurance plan in five counties - 1975 – Geisinger Health Foundation
- 1981 – Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center (then known as NPW Medical Center)
- 1981 – Geisinger Life Flight®
- 1982 – Geisinger Marworth Treatment Center
- 1985 – Geisinger Health Plan – Licensed as an HMO and expanded to more counties
- 1986 – Retail pharmacy*
- 1992 – Frank M. and Dorothea Henry Cancer Center
- 1994 – Geisinger Janet Weis Children’s Hospital
- 2005 – Geisinger South Wilkes-Barre
- 2006 – LIFE Geisinger* – Support to let people live independently at home
- 2007 – MyCode Community Health Initiative – DNA data + health information = better care for all
- 2012 – Geisinger Shamokin Area Community Hospital
- 2012 – Geisinger Bloomsburg Hospital
- 2012 – Geisinger Community Medical Center
- 2013 – Geisinger Lewistown Hospital
- 2015 – 100th anniversary celebration
- 2016 – Fresh Food Farmacy* – Provides healthy food to help patients control Type 2 diabetes
- 2017 – Mail-order pharmacy
- 2017 – Geisinger Jersey Shore Hospital
- 2017 – Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine
- 2018 – Geisinger at Home – In-home care for our most frail patients
- 2018 – Steele Institute for Health Innovation – Research that improves healthcare everywhere
- 2019 – Geisinger St. Luke’s
- 2019 – Geisinger 65 Forward Health Center* – Primary care tailored for those 65+
- 2022 – Geisinger Medical Center Muncy
- 2022 – Geisinger College of Health Sciences
- 2023 – Geisinger Behavioral Health Center Northeast
* first location
This story originally appeared in PA Health, our quarterly full-color magazine filled with wellness tips, inspiring stories and more.
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