Was St. Elsewhere originally based on an idea by Howie Mandel?

[Hawkee]

Today my dad told me that the idea for St. Elsewhere came from Howie Mandel and me and Dad want to know if the story for the idea of St. Elsewhere was true? Another story Dad told me about St. Elsewhere was that it was actually based on a real story and the characters were based on the actual real doctors and nurses and surgeons that worked in the actual Boston hospital where the fictional St. Elgus Hospital was used for St. Elsewhere. My dad is full of interesting facts about TV shows and I never knew this about St. Elsewhere