Text Source: Past and Present of
Syracuse and Onondaga County New York, by The Rev. William M.
Beauchamp, S.T.D., 1908, pg. 569
The new City Hospital in Teall
avenue, costing fifteen thousand dollars, was first opened to public
inspection on October 25, 1907. The new diphtheria pavilion had
accommodations for sixteen patients and their nurses. Miss Millie
Andre was placed at the head of the institution. In the corner of
the yard was the little four-room cottage used for two years for
diphtheria patients, and where, during the epidemic of 1906 there were
forty-six cases cared for with but one death. Near the
administration building was located the smallpox pavilion, with a
capacity for eight patients. The main building was provided with
accommodations for seventy patients, without crowding. The
beginning of the City Hospital dates back to 1874, when Syracuse was
swept with a disastrous epidemic of smallpox. In 1875 the disease
was stamped out, and while there are no complete records of cases the
vital statistics figures places the number of deaths at two hundred and
twenty-one. It was estimated that the epidemic cost the city one
hundred thousand dollars. At that time the land was purchased for
the site of the present City Hospital. The old shack, which
answered for a City Hospital and was called the "pest house" at that
time, stood until 1892, when the cholera epidemic in New York made the
city look to the safety of the city, and under the administration of
Mayor Amos, the present administration building was erected to care for
cholera if it should reach Syracuse. In 1905, during the scarlet
fever epidemic, the administration building was remodeled into a modern
hospital.
Text Source: Syracuse and Its Environs, by
Franklin H. Chase, Lewis Historical Pub. Co., Chicago, IL, 1924, pg.
492. It was the smallpox epidemic
of 1874-1875 that dictated the beginnings of the institution now known
as the City Hospital. The "pest house" was its common name.
It was so far out in the country at the time that it was believed it
would be many years before it would trouble any nearby residents.
To-day it is in a populous section of Teall Avenue, it has been rebuilt
and remodeled several times, and is one of the city's most important
institutions.
The City Hospital at 416 Teall Avenue was opened to the public October
25, 1907. In the corner of the yard was a little four-room
cottage, which was used for two years for diphtheria patients.
During the epidemic of 1906 there were forty-six patients cared for
with but one death. The City Hospital has accommodations for
seventy patients, and there are pavilions for smallpox and other
contagious diseases. In this hospital are nurses especially
trained for the handling of contagious ailments. Those who cannot
pay are given free treatment, with a moderate charge for those who are
able to pay. The City Hospital is a defense against epidemic, and
so appreciated by the medical fraternity.
Onondaga
County Medical Society, 1906-1956, by Genevieve M. Fahey, R.N. and A.
C. Silverman, M.D., The
Onondaga County Medical Society?, Syracuse? 1956, pp. 64-65. Despite the proof in 1798 that
smallpox could be prevented by vaccination, Syracuse was visited by an
epidemic of smallpox in 1874 and the City had to erect a small building
to house smallpox patients. The following year a pavilion type of
hospital was built on a large tract on Teall Avenue. Scarlet
Fever assumed epidemic proportion in 1889. In 1891 the existing
City Hospital building was repaired and a new one added. By 1896
there were 4 separate pavilions: one for smallpox, one for
scarlet fever, one for diphtheria and one for other communicable
diseases. The old City Hospital took care of various epidemic
diseases during its existence and played a part during the influenza
epidemic in the first World War and in the polio epidemic in
1916. Medical care was provided by a part time physician; parents
could not visit their children except when they were convalescing and
could play in the yard before being discharged.
In the late 1920's it became apparent that new facilities would be
required. By that time, too, the thought of a medical center was
crystallizing. The City was requested to put up a building on
ground provided by Syracuse University, and was actually the first unit
of the Medical Center. It opened its doors on November 22, 1928
and in 1953 the twenty-fifth anniversary was celebrated. It is
noteworthy that one of the speakers on that occasion was Dr. Jonas E.
Salk, whose polio vaccine is now being utilized in this country and
various parts of the civilized world.
Originally it was expected that one or more additional structures would
be required, the thought being that difference diseases would have to
be housed as in the old plant. Newer isolation methods and later
development of the so called miracle drugs so reduced the incidence of
the serious epidemic diseases that there was no need for additional
buildings. Medical care for ward patients is supplied by the
faculty of the Medical School and medical and nursing students receive
instruction in the infectious diseases at the City Hospital.
Throughout these years the City of Syracuse, through its Health
Department has made a generous contribution to the sick of the
community. In recent years the City Hospital's greatest effort
has been in the care of patients with polio both from the City and from
the surrounding counties. Approximately 1800 polio patients have
received care in the City Hospital since its opening. It has been
stated that 14 hospitals in the United States have cared for 80% of all
cases of polio and the Syracuse City Hospitals is one of the 14.
The City Hospital stands ready to serve those sick with infectious
diseases. Both adults and children are admitted and a licensed
physician may refer patients with certain diseases and provide care for
his private patients. Because of the low incidence of
communicable diseases at the present time patients with other diseases
have at times been admitted when the other hospitals could not take
them. The small size of the hospital gives a patient a greater
feeling of hominess than is possible in a large institution. On
the other hand a small hospital carries a certain overhead even when
few patients are cared for. It may well be assumed that when a
new University Hospital is built a more flexible arrangement can be
made for taking care of communicable disease cases. The City
Hospital building is, however, in good condition and will surely be
made use of for many years to come in one capacity or another. Text Source: A
Short History of Hospitals in Syracuse, SUNY
Upstate Medical University: Health Services Library:
Historical
Collections:
http://www.upstate.edu/library/history/hospitals.shtml
The City Hospital for
Communicable Diseases was founded by the City of
Syracuse in 1874 in reaction to a smallpox epidemic. The following year
it moved to a large lot on Teall Avenue. In 1928 it rebuilt on land
which Syracuse University provided to the city on Renwick Avenue just
west of Yates Castle. In 19__ it was renamed the A. Clement Silverman
Public Health Hospital. Until the 1960s it was the major facility in
Syracuse for infectious diseases, treating both children and adults. It
was dissolved in 197_. The building is now A.C. Silverman Hall and
houses the College of Health Professions at SUNY Upstate Medical
University.Submitted 12 March 2006 by Pamela
Priest
Updated 16 March 2006 by Pamela Priest