Mount Sinai Hospital (New York, N.Y.) Records

Mount Sinai Hospital was incorporated as the Jews' Hospital in New York on January 14, 1852 for "benevolent, charitable, and scientific purposes." Founders of the Jews' Hospital included philanthropist Sampson Simson and Jacques Judah Lyons. The Hospital's first building was a four-story building with 45 beds located at 138 West 28th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues in Manhattan. It opened to the public on May 17, 1855. During the American Civil War, the Hospital opened its wards to Union soldiers and extra beds and personnel were added to accommodate the war patients. Following the Civil War, in 1866, the name of the hospital was changed to Mount Sinai Hospital to reflect its mission to serve its community regardless of race or religion.

As immigration to New York City increased in the second half of the 19th century, hospital services also increased. Needing more space and bed capacity, the Hospital moved to a new building in 1871. The new hospital had 120 beds and was located on Lexington Avenue, extending from 66th to 67th Streets. During the 1870s, the Hospital established an Outdoor Dispensary with four divisions: Medical, Surgical, Gynecological, and Children's. It also established inpatient Medical and Surgical Services, an inpatient Gynecological Department, an inpatient Children's Department, and an Eye and Ear Service.

The 1880s saw the establishment of the Mount Sinai Hospital Training School for Nurses (renamed the Mount Sinai Hospital School of Nursing), the development of the Hospital's library, and an addition of another 70 beds to the Hospital. As the turn of the century approached, the Hospital once again outgrew its bed capacity. A new site was purchased on Fifth Avenue in the East Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan. Ten original buildings were planned with a capacity of 456 beds. The new hospital building was dedicated on March 15, 1904.

In the first half of the 20th century, the Hospital added many new departments and services including the Department of Dietetics (1905), the Social Service Department (1906), the Otological Service (1909), the Dental Department (1910), the Physical Therapy Department (1910), the Psychiatry Clinic (1920), the Occupational Therapy Department (1924), the Metabolism Clinic (1924), and the Neurosurgical Service (1932). The Hospital also established post-graduate medical instruction and it became officially affiliated with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University in 1923. Another key affiliation was formed in 1936 with the Neustadter Home, a convalescent care facility in Yonkers, New York. During World War One and World War Two, the Hospital also established military hospitals abroad and staff from Mount Sinai Hospital served in the Armed Forces, many in medical capacities.

During the last half of the 20th century, Mount Sinai Hospital continued to grow and in 1963 the Mount Sinai School of Medicine (now called the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai) was chartered. In 1968, the Mount Sinai Medical Center was formed between four institutions: Mount Sinai Hospital, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Nursing, and the Neustadter Convalescent Center. The 1980s saw more expansion for the Medical Center with the addition of the Guggenheim Pavilion, a massive building designed by I. M. Pei. As of 2014, the Medical Center comprises numerous buildings between Fifth and Park Avenues from 98th to 102nd Streets, as well as numerous affiliations throughout the New York metropolitan area.

References

Mount Sinai Hospital Annual Report, 1941; Mount Sinai Hospital Records; I-37; box 2; American Jewish Historical Society, New York, NY, and Boston, MA.

"Who We Are." Mount Sinai Hospital. Accessed August 19, 2014. http://www.mountsinai.org/about-us/who-we-are