Beneficiary
Over one hundred years ago, in 1893, Dr. George Gerhard turned to a group of volunteers to create a hospital in the suburbs to serve those who had moved west from Philadelphia. Those volunteers not only raised the capital to buy land and to build the structure, they also provided virtually every supply--from bandages to cotton balls, from handmade hospital gowns to chickens for the soup. It was in dedication and repayment to our community that Dr. Gerhard established the mission of Bryn Mawr Hospital:
"...dedicated to the healing of the sick, to the comfort of the suffering, and to the conservation of the life of the community..."
That mission is carved in the wall outside of Bryn Mawr Hospital today, and it is the same mission that remains central to every service, every treatment performed at the Hospital. To this very day, Bryn Mawr Hospital relies on its volunteers--the thousands who give their time and energy to benefit the realization of Dr. Gerhard's dream.
The administration and staff of Bryn Mawr Hospital are especially proud of the 3,000 volunteers who plan year-round for the annual Devon Horse Show and Country Fair.
Conceived just three years after the Hospital, the Devon Horse Show and Country Fair is a Main Line institution, one of the world's premier equestrian events. It is also the largest fund-raising event for the benefit of Bryn Mawr Hospital.
The Devon Horse Show and Country Fair has benefited Bryn Mawr Hospital since 1919. Since 1972, Devon has contributed $12 million to Bryn Mawr, to support projects such as the Emergency Department, the Comprehensive Breast Center, Maternal-Fetal Medicine program, the Outpatient Diagnostic Center, and various other improvement programs.
