The Center for History

Valuable guidance and lessons for the present and the future can be gained from our experiences of the past. In this time of great change and transition, the Center for Hospital and Healthcare Administration History (the Center) plays a dual role: making accessible to researchers and policy analysts the knowledge and experience of the past and collecting, preserving, and organizing information about today’s issues that will have lasting value for the future.

The evolution of the hospital is a unique social phenomenon reflecting societal attitudes toward illness and the welfare of the individual and the group. The field of healthcare administration encompasses both the technical aspects of the management of healthcare delivery and the social and public policy issues related to access to care. The Center for Hospital and Healthcare Administration History is dedicated to the study of this social phenomenon.

The Center was established by the American Hospital Association (AHA) and the American College of Healthcare Executives and is coordinated by the AHA Resource Center in collaboration with the Health Research and Educational Trust. The mission of the Center is to chronicle the history of hospitals and healthcare administration, especially that of the United States. The Center has become the collector and caretaker of collections and resources that in sum are the history of hospitals and healthcare administration.

The Center includes a collection of hospital histories; a hospital postcard collection; archival collections of papers and memorabilia; and oral histories of prominent leaders in the field.