Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital

Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital (or PPTH) is the fictitious teaching hospital where House is set. It's located in Princeton, New Jersey on Prospect Street (as seen on Chase's GPS when he rushes to the hospital in After Hours) The hospital presumably is located near the neighboring township of Plainsboro. Princeton University's Frist Campus Center is used in the aerial screen shots. It was apparently based on a hospital near where series co-creator Bryan Singer grew up.
==Organization==
The hospital appears to be a non-profit entity, essentially run as a charity with no shareholders. It's a teaching hospital, which means it's affiliated with a university medical school (although it has never been revealed which one, and Princeton University has no medical school) and is responsible for training medical students, interns, residents, and fellows.
The hospital's highest authority is the Board of Directors, which is primarily made up of department heads, together with important donors. Generally, the Chairman of the Board is one of the donors rather than one of the doctors. The current chairman of the board is Sanford Wells, the owner of a large corporation. The board generally does not involve itself in the day-to-day running of the hospital. Its chief duty appears to be to approve the hiring of chief administrative officers and approving contracts for major expenses, such as those with the hospital's insurers. The Board also determines which doctors are entitled to tenure in the hospital's role as a medical educator. The Board elects and dismisses its own members by majority vote of the remainder of the members.
Doctor Lisa Cuddy was the Hospital's Dean of Medicine and head administrator. She's responsible for all the day-to-day functions of the hospital, including supervising the department heads, overseeing medical training, disciplining students, making personnel decisions about non-tenured staff, determining who may have hospital privileges, and meeting the hospital's ongoing regulatory requirements. She reports directly to the Board but she later resigned after her former boyfriend, Gregory House crashed his car into her living-room with Cuddy resigning from the hospital that same day. House's former fellow, Dr. Eric Foreman has since replaced Cuddy and continues overseeing the day-to-day running of the hospital.
Each department of the hospital has a department head, who is responsible for personnel decisions within the department and ensuring interns, residents and fellows are properly supervised during their medical training.
Princeton-Plainsboro's Head Nurse is Brenda Previn who is responsible for allocation of patient rooms and diagnostic facilities.
==Physical Plan==
While being a fairly modern hospital with wide open plan areas, it's clear that it has been expanded and upgraded over time by the appearance of several older areas (such as the lecture hall where Dr. House held the game for fellowship doctors).
The hospital includes a free clinic where members of the public can come for free treatment. All doctors employed at the hospital must serve in the clinic for a certain amount of hours (generally two) every week. Department heads are expected to work in the clinic, and even Dr. Cuddy has been known to take a turn with House going to great lengths to avoid it.
The hospital's equipment is state-of-the-art, and it's so well equipped that almost all of its testing can be done within the hospital and does not have to be sent out to an outside laboratory.
==Revenue==
PPTH's main source of revenue is insurance payments. Its number one insurer is Atlantic Net, which insures over 80% of the hospital's patients. The hospital also seeks out major donors and foundations, primarily to fund capital improvements.﻿
==Departments==
*Oncology- Formerly headed by James Wilson. Wilson resigned for good after discovering he was terminally ill. Presumably replaced by one of his fellow Oncologists.
*Diagnostics Department - Formerly headed by Gregory House. After House faked his death, ending his medical career to spend the remaining five months with his best friend, Dr. James Wilson who's terminally ill, Robert Chase, one of House's former fellows has become the permanent replacement.
*Emergency Room- Formerly headed by Allison Cameron
*Surgery- Headed by Dave Thomas, Chief Surgeon
*Obstetrics
*Pediatrics
*Cardiology
*Nephrology
*Radiology
*Rheumatology
*Internal Medicine - Headed by Marty Kaufman
*Isolation room
*ICU
*Burn unit
*Sleep lab and labs
*Transplantation - Headed by Lawrence Hourani
*Psychiatry
==Wings==
Some of the wings of the hospital are named after people who are significant to Princeton, New Jersey and Princeton University. Witherspoon is likely named after John Witherspoon, a New Jersey representative to the Continental Congress and signer of the Declaration of Independence. There's also a street in Princeton named after him. Mathey was a major donor to Princeton University and the man responsible for steering the university's endowment through the first great depression of the United States. There's also a residential college named after him. Cuyler is also the name of a residence hall. Carnegie is likely named after Andrew Carnegie who was very generous to the university and created the man-made Lake Carnegie. A popular local brand of scotch is called "Loch Carnegie".
*Carnegie
*Cuyler
*Lucas
*Mathey
*McCormick
*Witherspoon
==Floors==
The hospital has four floors and a basement. This is a list of what's located on each floor, based on the directory beside the elevators, signs on the walls, and statements made by characters. It's by no means complete, and sometimes changes occur (for example, the main lobby balcony was added during the period between the end of season two and the beginning of season three), or mistakes are made (in several episodes of Season 1, House's office and the pathology lab appear to both be on the second floor, despite the directory listing the department of diagnostics as on the fourth floor). A question mark beside an entry indicates that the location is unclear, but probably as listed.
However, in Words and Deeds, House leaves his office and says he's going upstairs to the drug rehabilitation center at the hospital, implying that there are more than the four floors listed here. There's a fifth floor, at least. In Season 1 episode Maternity, the fifth floor is referenced as where they moved the healthy babies. Also, in Season 7 episode A Pox on Our House, it's mentioned there's an isolation room on the fifth floor. In Season 7 and 8, the directory says that Oncology and the Oncology ICU are on the fifth floor. The Buttons in the lifts indicate that there's a sixth and seventh floor although what departments or rooms they have are unknown.
Basement
*Radiology (Diagnostic Imaging): MRI & CT scan
*Records Office
*Morgue
*Sleep Lab
*Forensic Medicine
*Emergency Room (?)
First Floor
*Main Lobby
*Cafeteria
*Clinic
*Pharmacy
*Foreman's Office
*Urgent Care
*Lecture Halls
*Conference Room
Second Floor
*Pediatrics
*Ultrasound
*Pulmonary Laboratory
*OB/GYN
*Nursery
*Patient Rooms
*Administration
*Intensive Care Unit
*Surgery
*Pathology Laboratory
*Chapel
*Blood Bank
*Eye Lab
Third Floor
*Psych Ward (East Wing)
*Patient Rooms
*Senior Services
*Same Day Admission Unit
*Maternity Ward
*Pediatrics (Pediatrics ICU and Pediatrics OR)
*Mammography
*Rheumatology
Fourth Floor
*Nephrology
*Anesthesia Office
*Cardiology
*Diagnostics (House's Office & Diagnostic Conference Room) Rm: 4191
*Oncology (Wilson's Office)
==Motto==
"Omnes te moriturum amant"
Ironically, the hospital's motto has a classical meaning and a euphemistic meaning. The more literal translation that fits with the hospital's purpose is "Everyone loves you, who are about to die." However, the more sarcastic meaning is "Everyone loves you when you're on your deathbed," a cynical twist worthy of House himself to the effect that you treat people better when they are about to die.
==Trivia==
On May 22, 2012 in Plainsboro, New Jersey University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro officially opened, thus creating a real life Princeton-Plainsboro Hospital.
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