Hospital's History

• The Story in Stone • Hospital's Founders • An Abbreviated History • Hospital's Milestones

Milestones

A glimpse at the historic achievements and turning points of the St. Luke's, Woman's and Roosevelt Hospitals.

1846 - Rev. Dr. William Augustus Muhlenberg, on the occasion of the festival of St. Luke, appeals to his congregation for contributions to begin a church hospital.

1847 - Rev. Muhlenberg establishes a summertime church charity for needy children.

1855 - The original Woman's Hospital opens on May 4, 1855.

1858 - The first St. Luke's Hospital building opens at 54th Street and Fifth Avenue, then the northernmost part of the city.

1862 - St. Luke's 200 beds are more than half filled with Civil War casualties.

1871 - Roosevelt Hospital opens on 59th Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues on November 2, 1871. Twelve men, all notable figures in the medical life of New York and graduates of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, were selected by the Board of Trustees to initiate Roosevelt Hospital's medical services.

1873 - Hospital Sunday, the forerunner of the United Hospital Fund, begins.

1877 St. Luke's and Roosevelt Hospitals join two other NYC hospitals in beginning the first ambulance service for emergency and critical care.

1882 - William Halstead, MD, one of the era's most celebrated surgeons, introduces the use of rubber gloves in surgery to the United States. (Many believe he actually did this at Johns Hopkins, not during his time at Roosevelt.)

1886 - Robert Hall, MD, performs the first appendectomy in this country.

1888 - St. Luke's Training School for Nurses opens to prepare professionally trained nurses.

1892 - The Syms Operating Theater, planned and directed by Charles McBurney, MD, opens on November 3 at Roosevelt Hospital.

1893 - Dr. McBurney originates the classic procedure for appendectomies at Roosevelt Hospital.

1893 - Cornerstone for the new St. Luke's Hospital is laid at 113th Street and Morningside Heights.

1896 - The new St. Luke's Hospital opens at 113th Street and Morningside Drive.

1896 - The Roosevelt Hospital School of Nursing opens.

1900 - Francis Carter Wood, MD, a friend and collaborator of Madame Marie Curie, is one of the first physicians to use radium in diagnosis and treatment. Howard Taylor, MD, becomes the first physician to use radium in the treatment of gynecological illnesses.

1912 - Roosevelt Hospital establishes a social service department to meet the needs of distressed patients outside the hospital walls, with an emphasis on chronically ill and aged patients.

1914 - St. Luke's founds its social service division, offering broad-based volunteer services, including child welfare and care for TB patients.

1917 - Woman's Hospital purchases 230 milligrams of radium in order to initiate a radiotherapy clinic.

1917 - Roosevelt Hospital's World War I unit serves as Base Hospital No. 15 for the casualties of Verdun, Belleau Wood, and Chateau Theirry. Two doctors and six nurses are killed. Col. Charles Peck, the unit's commander, is awarded the Distinguished Service Medal; four nurses receive the Croix de Guerre.

1935 - The first successful surgical removal of a cancer-afflicted lung is performed.

1942 - Roosevelt Hospital's Disaster Unit aids victims of the luxury liner Normandie fire.

1942 - St. Luke's and Roosevelt Hospitals wartime groups are distinguished for exceptional service.

1947 - St. Luke's Hospital formally affiliates with the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons for teaching purposes.

1951 - The hand surgery service and residency training programs are established at Roosevelt Hospital under the leadership of J. William Littler, MD.

1952 - Woman's Hospital is incorporated under St. Luke's Hospital as the Woman's Division.

1955 - Surgeons at St. Luke's Hospital perform the first open heart procedure in New York City.

1960 - Physicians at St. Luke's Hospital Center pioneer the use of clinical ultrasound in monitoring fetal development.

1968 - George Green, MD, is the first to use the mammary artery in bypass surgery.

1970 - Roosevelt Hospital cardiologists begin experiments that lead to the first demonstration that coronary artery disease results in reduced blood flow to the heart.

1971 - Physicians perform the first machine preservation of a kidney for transplant.

1971 - The multidisciplinary Smithers Alcoholism Treatment and Training Center is established and goes on to become widely acclaimed for treating alcoholism and other chemical dependencies successfully.

1975 - The first Obesity Research Center in the United States is founded at St. Luke's by Theodore B. VanItallie, MD.

1975 - St. Luke's develops the first hospital-based hospice program for the terminally ill.

1977 - Researchers make one of the earliest observations of elevated estrogen levels that leads to new treatment approaches of heart disease.

1977 - The Rape Crisis Intervention Center is established and goes on to serve as a model for other programs around the country.

1979 - The merger of St. Luke's Hospital Center and Roosevelt Hospital to form St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center is the nation's largest merger of non-profit teaching hospitals.

1979 - St. Luke's-Roosevelt physicians diagnose one of the earliest cases of an AIDS-related illness on the East Coast.

1981 - Researchers in the Hospital Center's Clinical Immunology Laboratory develop the capability for culturing and growing human immunodeficiency virus.

1981 - A new, state-of-the-art $2.5 million emergency room opens at Roosevelt Hospital.

1983 - New York City's Emergency Medical Service designates the St. Luke's Division as one of the only four 911 Trauma Centers in Manhattan.

1984 - A Hand Surgery Center opens at the Roosevelt Division.

1985 - The Kathryn and Gilbert Miller Health Care Institute for Performing Artists opens, offering health services exclusively to performers.

1987 - The Hospital is designated by New York State as one of the first AIDS Center.

1988 - The Hospital Center opens the first Molecular Virology Laboratory dedicated to the study of AIDS, attracting research scientists from around the world.

1988 - A major half-billion dollar rebuilding program is launched to rebuild the facilities at both the St. Luke's and Roosevelt sites.

1992 - The Hospital Center completes construction on two new facilities containing the most advanced diagnostic and treatment facilities available anywhere. On June 16, the first St. Luke's patient is transported to the new 10-story building at the St. Luke's Division.

1993 - Roosevelt Hospital's new 13-story building officially opens in January.

1994 - The Joslin Center for Diabetes opens as the only New York affiliate of the Boston-based program that is world-renowned for excellence in diabetes treatment and research.

1995 - The Center for Advanced Laparoscopic Surgery opens employing the most sophisticated laparoscopy technologies available for several types of abdominal surgery.

1996 - The Hospital Center opens the first hospital-based birthing center in New York City.

1997 - St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center merges with Beth Israel Medical Center to form Continuum Health Partners.