Text Source: Past and Present of Syracuse and Onondaga
County New York, by The Rev. William M. Beauchamp, S.T.D., 1908,
pg. 568.
St. Joseph's Hospital, one of the
most beneficent institutions in Syracuse, has been enlarged again and
again in recent years to meet the demands made upon it, until today it
is one of the most famous institutions in Central New York. The
big hospital annex was built in 1896. The new hospital chapel was
dedicated May 17, 1897, and the new surgical pavilion opened with a
reception the following day. In 1904 the St. Joseph's Hospital
Training School for Nurses was incorporated.
Text Source: Syracuse and Its Environs, by
Franklin H. Chase, Lewis Historical Pub. Co., Chicago, IL, 1924, pp.
483-485.
First of Helping
Hands - St. Joseph's.
The sweet and picturesque
vision of the old days when the Sisters of St. Joseph's Hospital walked
the streets to gather the funds and supplies for that oldest
establishes hospital of to-day, is a picture that deserves an unfading
record. The founding of the institution antedates its
incorporation, for the former event came early in 1869, while the
incorporation was February 23, 1870. To the Sisters of the Third
Franciscan Order, St. Anthony's Convent, is the credit. They were
the ones who labored unceasingly, work of all sorts, nursing the sick
and the incessant search for funds. Upon April 12, 1869, the
first property was purchased upon the most sightly and healthiest
location for such a work that was within the center of the city at that
time - Prospect Hill. It displaced an old saloon and dancing
hall. There was a brick structure built to connect two older
buildings, partitions made rooms and wards, and the hospital was
formally opened May 7, 1869. In charge was Sister Dominic, with
Sisters Mechtildes, Veronica, Johanna, and Hyacinthe as
assistants. It was this hospital which hallowed the day after
Thanksgiving as Donation Day. It came to be a time when hundreds
gave, irrespective of creed, supplies of many kinds as well as funds
coming to the charitable work. During the first year one hundred
and twenty-three patients were treated.
The struggles of those early years of St. Joseph's, when the call was
so much greater than the possible response, is a record of heroism upon
the part of the Sisters in charge. It can never be adequately
written. In 1870 Mother Superior Marianne was placed in charge;
in 1873 came Mother Bernardine, to be followed after three and one-half
years by Sister Dominic for a year, and then Mother Bernardine was
reappointed and remained until 1889. In September of that year
Sister Genevieve was placed in charge. Mothers Superior Gertrude,
Veronica, and Antonia have been others in charge. The Board of
Trustees comprised five citizens, the Mother Provincial acting as
president.
In 1882 the hospital was enlarged by the addition upon the south and
west, and in 1888 another addition was made upon the north and east
sides, making the building one hundred and twenty-two feet by
eighty-five and one-half feet, and capable of accommodating one hundred
and twenty patients.
The cost of the first St. Joseph's was $12,000, but no one will ever
know what it cost those Sisters in their struggles to keep the
institution going for the sick in Syracuse. C. Tyler Longstreet
and many influential citizens came to their aid, but it was a great
work and the people had to be educated to the necessities. In
1888 the Ladies' Aid Society of St. Joseph's was organized.
It has continued as an auxiliary to the hospital ever since. To
its credit is much good work for the institution. The president
of St. Joseph's Hospital Auxiliary in 1924 was Mrs. John Dunfee.
It furnished and made 4,424 pieces of linen in 1923.
In 1896 the four-story surgical pavilion fronting on State Street was
built at a cost of $50,000. Two years later its training school
was opened. In 1904 the St. Joseph's Hospital Training School for
Nurses was incorporated. The new hospital chapel was dedicated
May 17, 1897.
While St. Joseph's was the inspiration of Catholic Sisters and started
as a Catholic hospital, it has never been sectarian in its work for
humanity. Its charter reads that "it is established and
maintained for the purpose of caring for disabled and indigent persons
of the city of Syracuse, irrespective of creed, race, or color."
In 1923, it became necessary for the hospital to abandon part of its
original building, which had literally fallen to pieces. Then was
begun the great movement for rebuilding the hospital. Up to the
period of the abandonment, the hospital had increased from twelve beds
to twenty-two private rooms, thirty-two semi-private rooms and fifty
ward beds.
When James J. Belden was mayor in 1878 he called a committee of
citizens to look after the interests of the hospital, and they did
great work to save it, as did the committee in 1923. From the
James J. Belden estate the hospital received $50,000; from the John
Dunfree estate $26,000, and other legacies, but its need like its noble
work was great.
From the first organization of St. Joseph's, Dr. Roger W. Pease,
surgeon and Dr. Henry D. Didama, visiting physician, took an active
interest in the hospital. Dr. Henry Crouse was the house
physician for seven years. Dr. John Otis Burt and Dr. J. W.
Lawton were also active helpers. In 1882 there came a staff
reorganization. The roster is given because it contains the names
of so many famous physicians of that period: Dr. R. W. Pease,
surgeon-in-chief; Dr. H. D. Didama, physician; medical, Dr. Henry L.
Elsner, Dr. Gaylord P. Clark, Dr. John L. Heffron, Dr. Margaret
Stanton; surgical Dr. Nathan Jacobson, Dr. D. M. Totman, Dr. Scott
Owen; occulist, Dr. U. H. Brown. Dr. Pease remained at the head
of the staff until his death in 1886, when Dr. Didama succeeded.
In later years the staffs of St. Joseph's have almost invariably been
recruited from the most prominent of the city's medical fraternity.
One of the most historic incidents of St. Joseph's was the drive of
1923 for funds with which to build a new hospital - a drive which
awakened the whole city to the great work and needs of the
hospital. The first campaign of this kind ever carried on was for
this institution in 1878. Then Patrick H. Agan was chairman and
John R. Clancy financial secretary. There was $15,000 raised -
the record amount for that period. At that time 2,000 subscribers
were secured who pledged themselves for a small amount, aggregating
$5,000 a year, for five years. Then there was participation in a
joint hospital campaign of 1912. In 1923 the needs were such that
something had to be done and the great movement was started.
St. Joseph's Hospital Aid Society, organized in 1878, irrespective of
creed, became a board of trustees and later a board of directors.
The first president was Theodore Dissel, and then followed Dennis
McCarthy, Daniel Rosenbloom, Charles W. Snow, Burns Lyman Smith, and
Harvey D. Burrill. It was under Mr. Burrill's presidency that the
great drive was made. Louise Will was chairman of the
committee of close upon 100, and for a week Syracuse heard only of the
great work of the hospital. In that week 18,317 subscriptions,
amounting to $518,000, were subscribed. Stephen B. Groner was the
general manager of the remarkable campaign. George Doheny, the
lawyer and banker, upon his death, left $150,000 for maintenance and
$100,00 for building. The latter was added to the building fund
and the great work went on.
The report of St. Joseph's for 1923 showed 2,988 patients in a
year. There were 1,802 at full pay, 898 part pay, and 288
free. There were 26,213 patient days.
Onondaga
County Medical Society, 1906-1956, The
Onondaga County Medical Society?, Syracuse? 1956, pp. 58-59. There is an old legend which claims
that the first hospital in Syracuse was in a doctor's office. The
story runs like this: Prospect Hill was once the site of an
amusement park, and, on a certain Fourth of July, two jubilant
citizens, in the act of firing off a cannon located in the park, blew
off parts of their hands. A doctor who was present rushed them
into his buggy and took them to his office which was located on the
second floor of a down-town building. Here he amputated as he saw
necessary and, because both patients were in a state of shock, he kept
them in his office over-night, himself acting as both doctor and nurse.
Actually, Syracuse's first hospital stands on the site of that accident
on Prospect Hill.
It has been said that one of the reasons for transferring the College
of Medicine from Geneva to Syracuse in the early 1870's was because
Syracuse had a hospital. That hospital was St. Joseph's, a little
fifteen-bed structure, opened on May 6, 1869 by the Franciscan Sisters.
Property on Prospect Hill, consisting of a saloon and a dance-hall, had
been purchased by the Sisters from Mrs. Philipine Samsel, widow of
Jacob Samsel, for the sum of $12,000.00. A three-story
brick structure was erected so as to connect these two original
buildings. The hospital was incorporated under the laws of New
York State in 1870 and affiliated with the College of Medicine in 1872.
The total number of patients treated as St. Joseph's Hospital during
the first year of operation was 123. However, the demand for
hospital beds in Syracuse increased rapidly and in 1884 the Sisters
were obliged to add two wings to the original building bringing the bed
capacity up to about seventy. The first annual report published
by St. Joseph's Hospital was for the year of 1885-86 and showed a total
of 325 patients admitted during the year.
In 1897 a four-story, fifty-bed surgical pavilion was added.
The School of Nursing was established in 1898 and graduated its first
class of seven nurses in 1900.
St. Joseph's first intern was Doctor H. E. Crouse who completed his one
year of internship in 1870.
A number of other hospitals had been opened in Syracuse by the close of
the nineteenth century. However, Syracuse was growing
rapidly. Medical science too was advancing. By the end of
World War I there was again an acute shortage of hospital beds in the
city. In 1924, through the great generosity of the people of
Syracuse and Onondaga County, sufficient funds were raised to build a
new St. Joseph's Hospital. This, with the old surgical pavilion
which was retained, comprised a 231 bed hospital. The latest
addition, completed in 1950 at a total cost of over two million
dollars, brings the present bed capacity up to 340.
During the eighty-seven years of its existence St. Joseph's Hospital
has admitted 300,021 patients. In addition to this the hospital
maintains an active out-patient department including emergency, private
out-patient, and clinic service.
The first Medical Staff at St. Joseph's Hospital consisted of two
doctors, Roger W. Pease, M.D., Surgeon, and Henry D. Didama, M.D.,
Internist. They were followed by Nathan Jacobson, M.D., and Henry
L. Elsner, M.D. Later Dr. Didama became the second Dean of the
College of Medicine; Doctor Jacobson became Professor of Surgery and
Doctor Elsner, Professor of Medicine. Today the Medical Staff
numbers over one hundred and fifty.
In 1953 an arrangement was made with the State University of New York
at Syracuse for closer coordination between the College of Medicine and
the hospital in the education of medical students, interns, and
residents. A full-time Director of Medical Education was assigned
to this work.
It is interesting to compare the first year of the hospital's
operation, when 123 patients were treated, and the statistics for the
year of 1955. In 1955 a total of 43,541 patients received 99,961
days of hospital care; 7,935 physical therapy treatments were given;
236 basal metabolism tests and 142,445 laboratory tests were done;
37,896 x-rays taken, and 10,544 operations performed.
The original fifteen-bed hospital was staffed by six Sisters who did
all of the work connected with the hospital except the medical care of
patients. Today St. Joseph's Hospital is staffed by 16 Sisters,
404 full-time and 122 part-time employees, and 164 student nurses.
Onondaga
County Medical Society, 1906-1956, The
Onondaga County Medical Society?, Syracuse? 1956, pg. 70.
St. Joseph's
Hospital, School of Nursing
On
October 1, 1898, the St. Joseph's Hospital, School of Nursing was
opened with Miss Amy Higgins as Director of Nurses.
Eleven student nurses were accepted in the first class to enter the
School of Nursing. There were no specific educational
qualifications and applicants were accepted upon the basis of a
favorable interview with the Director of Nurses. There was some
formal classroom instruction, but for the most part, students received
the greater share of their education in caring for the patients on the
wards.
In September 1951 a cooperative program was inaugurated with LeMoyne
College whereby college credit is provided for academic work done at
the College.
Students are admitted in September of each year. The program
covers a period of three years. They must be between 17 and 30
years of age, in good physical health and completed four years high
school study or its equivalent. In addition, she must also meet
the academic requirements of LeMoyne College before she is admitted to
this program.
The entire course of study includes approximately 1377 hours of
classroom instruction, and approximately 57 weeks in clinical fields of
Obstetrics, Pediatrics, etc., in addition to 7 hours per week in simple
nursing procedures and 11 hours per week in the more advanced nursing
procedures and administration of medicine.
Since its beginning in 1898, St. Joseph's Hospital, School of Nursing
has graduated 1024 students. 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 oldest general hospital in
Syracuse, St. Joseph's Hospital, was
founded in 1869 by the Franciscan Sisters. One of the main reasons that
Geneva Medical College was able to revive itself as the Syracuse
University College of Medicine in the early 1870s rather than become
extinct was the existence of St. Joseph's, which would provide adequate
clinical teaching facilities for medical students. St. Joseph's added a
school of nursing in 1898. Located at 301 Prospect Avenue, nowadays it
is called St. Joseph's Hospital
Health Center. In the
1960s, St. Joseph's
developed the first program in this region for family practice
residents.Submitted 12 March 2006 by Pamela
Priest
Updated 17 March 2006 by Pamela Priest
