Gaslight Hospital

A relatively new faction, Gaslight Hospital was founded by a few doctors who had been involved with Buena Vista College. The hospital also functions as an orphanage and as New Dunston's morgue. No one dares upset them, as it is generally quicker to visit them for emergency care than it is to step through the cracks to travel to one of Pittsburgh's grim hospitals, and the last thing a patient wants is a doctor holding a grudge. Though there isn't any evidence, rumors have circulated which implicate the hospital in a series of experiments done on unknowing participants—most dismiss these rumors as nonsense. The hospital is reasonably well-equipped for a technology-dependent faction working in the Praetermundus, and they are grateful especially to a few generous houses, as well as to the Commonwealth in general, for providing funding for the majority of their equipment and supplies.

Internal Structure

The hospital is staffed by two MDs and a DO, as well as other people with related skills but less (or no) formal training. It doesn't seem to matter to patients whether they see someone they know has an MD or if they receive treatment from the man everyone calls "Doctor" despite his lack of credentials. If a staff member can treat patients, he's either called "doctor" or "nurse."

The hospital administrator, who oversees most of the non-medical goings-on at the hospital, is usually a senior member of the faction without a medical degree. The administrator serves with limited autonomy, and he reports regularly to the doctors as well as other senior staff members.

The hospital conducts research exploring supernatural physiology on a regular basis. For that purpose, the hospital has been known to purchase corpses—especially, lately, those of werewolves. The head technician at the morgue is known for his creepy fondness of dissecting abnormal and paranormal bodies.

The Gaslight Home for Lost Children is an orphanage which communally raises children and expects them to earn their keep doing menial labor in the hospital. Upon turning sixteen, these children are expected to be hired by another faction, though some remain and are assimilated into the hospital's staff on a more permanent basis.

Relationships with Others

The hospital is nearly apolitical, besides their notably close relationship with the College from which they splintered. No other faction is willing to risk hostile relations with the only hospital in town. At times, when resources are tight, the College and the hospital share a seat on the House of Commons. This is currently the case, and the hospital is officially unrepresented at the moment.

The hospital's requests are occasionally expensive, but they are not denied except in extraordinary circumstances and for very good reasons. The Steel Barons have been particularly generous in their donations to the hospital, but more and more factions have made regular contributions, so there is no real preference or favoritism with regard to the Steel Barons or other generous donors.

History

A year after the creation of a supernatural physiology department in Buena Vista College in 1954, a few doctors working there decided New Dunston needed a hospital with a research department devoted to the study of supernatural physiology. The hospital was founded in 1955 and became its own faction in 1961, led by those doctors. In 1963, a set of twins were dropped off at the hospital in the middle of the night, and the orphanage was informally founded. Seven years later, the Home for Lost Children officially opened.