It was the first home of the Office of Industrial Hygiene and Sanitation, the earliest predecessor of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, during 1915–1918.

In the early 19th century, the first Marine Hospitals were established along the East Coast of the United States.

The building layout was based on the then-standard Marine Hospital plan by Robert Mills and Thomas Lawson.

[3] In 1871, the Marine Hospital Service was created within the Department of the Treasury to centralize management of the system.

In its first report, it recommended that the Pittsburgh hospital be disposed of and replaced due to its dilapidated state and unhealthy location between a blast furnace and an iron rolling mill.

[5] Although funds raised from the 1875 sale were supposed to be used to erect a new hospital, this did not happen in a timely manner.

[9] In 1915, the Pittsburgh Marine Hospital became the first home of the Office of Industrial Hygiene and Sanitation, which would eventually become the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

[13] Its location was in proximity to the recently established Bruceton Research Center of the U.S. Bureau of Mines, enhancing cooperation on miners' health.

[16] John McGraw, later a brigadier general in the United States Air Force, served a junior internship at the hospital during 1933–1934.