Ceremonies to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Sharp Memorial Hospital are scheduled in San Diego Thursday afternoon.
The nine-story hospital, named after a World War II airman, first opened its doors to patients April 2, 1955. Sharp executives said 1.3 million patients have been treated at the facility over the past six decades.
According to a timeline provided by Sharp Healthcare, fundraising for a hospital to serve a growing postwar city began as early as 1946. The Philip Gildred family donated 12 1/2 acres of land in Serra Mesa three years later.
In 1950, rancher and radio communications pioneer Thomas Sharp donated $500,000 to the cause in memory of his son, Army Air Corps Lt. Donald Sharp, who died when he was shot down in his B-26 bomber.
Construction started in 1953 and took two years.
According to Sharp, doctors at the hospital performed several firsts for San Diego in cardiac care, including the first cardiac catheterization in 1957, first open-heart surgery in 1958, the first heart transplant in 1985 and the first robot-assisted minimally invasive heart surgery in 2007.
The hospital also performs more kidney transplants from living donors than any other hospital in San Diego, according to Sharp, and is one of six designated trauma centers for the San Diego region.
More than 250,000 babies were delivered at the hospital until the Sharp Mary Birch Hospital for Women & Newborns opened next door in 1992.
The original hospital building was replaced by a 334-bed tower opened six years ago.
