Bellevue Hospital Center, most often referred to as
"Bellevue", was founded on March 31, 1736 and is the oldest
public hospitalA public hospital or government hospital is a hospital which is owned by a government and receives government funding. This type of hospital provides medical care free of charge, the cost of which is covered by the funding the hospital receives....
in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Located on
First AvenueFirst Avenue is a north-south thoroughfare on the East Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan, running from Houston Street northbound for over 125 blocks before terminating at the Willis Avenue Bridge into The Bronx at the Harlem River near East 127th Street. South of Houston Street, the...
in the
Kips BayKips Bay is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Because there are no official boundaries for New York City neighborhoods, the limits of Kip's Bay are somewhat vague, but it is often considered to be the area between East 23rd Street and East 34th Street extending from...
neighborhood of
ManhattanManhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
,
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Bellevue is famous from many literary, film and television references, and as the training ground for many of America's leaders in medicine. Affiliated with the
New York University School of MedicineThe New York University School of Medicine is one of the graduate schools of New York University. Founded in 1841 as the University Medical College, the NYU School of Medicine is one of the foremost medical schools in the United States....
since 1968, Bellevue has been the site of many milestones in the history of medicine, from the establishment of the first ambulance service and first maternity ward, to Nobel Prize-winning
cardiac catheterizationCardiac catheterization is the insertion of a catheter into a chamber or vessel of the heart. This is done for both investigational and interventional purposes...
laboratory.
Bellevue is exceptionally well-known for its
psychiatric facilitiesPsychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...
and its
emergency departmentAn emergency department , also known as accident & emergency , emergency room , emergency ward , or casualty department is a medical treatment facility specialising in acute care of patients who present without prior appointment, either by their own means or by ambulance...
, being named New York's #1 hospital in Emergency Care by New York Magazine. It has opened a new ambulatory care building dedicated to serving over 300,000 outpatients a year as well as burn units for pediatric (children) and adult burn patients. The hospital serves as a primary referral center for
cardiac catheterizationCardiac catheterization is the insertion of a catheter into a chamber or vessel of the heart. This is done for both investigational and interventional purposes...
, catheter-based treatment of heart rhythm disorders, cardiovascular surgery,
neurosurgeryNeurosurgery is the medical specialty concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spine, spinal cord, peripheral nerves, and extra-cranial cerebrovascular system.-In the United States:In...
, physical rehabilitation and Hansen's disease (leprosy).
As the flagship facility of New York City’s Health and Hospitals Corporation Bellevue is open to patients of all backgrounds irrespective of ability to pay. It handles nearly 500,000 outpatient clinic visits, 145,000 emergency visits (120,000 adult, 25,000 pediatric) and some 26,000 inpatients each year. More than 80 percent of Bellevue’s patients come from the city’s medically underserved populations. Today, the hospital occupies a 25-story patient care facility with a state of the art
ICUthumb|220px|ICU roomAn intensive-care unit , critical-care unit , intensive-therapy unit/intensive-treatment unit is a specialized department in a hospital that provides intensive-care medicine...
, digital radiology communication and a new modern outpatient facility. The hospital has an
attending physicianIn the United States, an attending physician is a physician who has completed residency and practices medicine in a clinic or hospital, in the specialty learned during residency. An attending physician can supervise fellows, residents, and medical students...
staff of 1800 and an in-house staff of more than 1000. Lynda D. Curtis became Bellevue Hospital Center's Executive Director in 2005.
Bellevue Hospital is home to FDNY-EMS Battalion 8, formerly NYC*EMS Station 13.
Since 1998 the building which once served as the hospital's psychiatric facility has been used as a homeless intake center and a men's homeless shelter. Plans to redevelop it as a hotel and conference center connected to
NYU Langone Medical CenterNYU Langone Medical Center is an academic medical center in New York City affiliated with New York University. It was named to the Honor Roll of U.S. News "Best Hospitals" in the nation for 2009-2010. The Medical Center comprises NYU School of Medicine and three hospitals: Tisch Hospital, the Rusk...
fell through in April 2010.
Timeline
- 1799: First maternity ward in the United States
- 1808: First ligation
In surgery or medical procedure, a ligature consists of a piece of thread tied around an anatomical structure, usually a blood vessel or another hollow structure to shut it off. With a blood vessel the surgeon will clamp the vessel perpendicular to the axis of the artery or vein with a hemostat,...
of the femoral arteryThe femoral artery is a general term comprising a few large arteries in the thigh. They begin at the inguinal ligament and end just above the knee at adductor canal or Hunter's canal traversing the extent of the femur bone....
for an aneurysmAn aneurysm or aneurism is a localized, blood-filled balloon-like bulge in the wall of a blood vessel. Aneurysms can commonly occur in arteries at the base of the brain and an aortic aneurysm occurs in the main artery carrying blood from the left ventricle of the heart...
- 1811: New York City purchases Belle Vue farm and builds a new alms house.
- 1818: First ligation
Ligation may refer to:* In molecular biology, the covalent linking of two ends of DNA molecules using DNA ligase* In medicine, the making of a ligature * Chemical ligation, the production of peptides from amino acids...
of the innominate arteryThe brachiocephalic artery is an artery of the mediastinum that supplies blood to the right arm and the head and neck....
.
- 1819: New York City University faculty began to conduct clinical instruction at Bellevue Hospital.
- 1849: Amphitheatre for clinical teaching and surgery opened.
- 1854: Bellevue physicians promote the "Bone Bill," which legalized dissection of cadavers for anatomical studies.
- 1856: Bellevue physicians popularize the use of the hypodermic syringe.
- 1861: The Bellevue Hospital Medical College, the first medical college in New York with connections to a hospital, is founded.
- 1862: Austin Flint murmur
In cardiology, an Austin Flint murmur is a mid-diastolic or presystolic murmur low-pitched rumbling murmur which is best heard at the cardiac apex...
is named for Austin FlintAustin Flint was an American physician, born at Petersham, Massachusetts He was educated at Amherst and Harvard and graduated at the latter in 1833. After practicing at Boston and Northampton, he moved to Buffalo, N. Y., in 1836...
, prominent Bellevue Hospital cardiologist.
- 1866: Bellevue physicians are instrumental in developing New York City's sanitary code, the first in the world.
- 1867: One of the nation's first outpatient departments connected to a hospital (the "Bureau of Medical and Surgical Relief for the Out of Door Poor") is established at Bellevue.
- 1868: Bellevue physician Stephen Smith becomes first commissioner of public health in New York City. Smith initiated a national campaign for health vaccination
Vaccination is the administration of antigenic material to stimulate the immune system of an individual to develop adaptive immunity to a disease. Vaccines can prevent or ameliorate the effects of infection by many pathogens...
s.
- 1869: Bellevue establishes the second hospital-based, emergency ambulance service in the United States.
- 1873: The nation's first nursing school
A nursing school is a type of educational institution, or part thereof, providing education and training to become a fully qualified nurse. The nature of nursing education and nursing qualifications varies considerably across the world.-United Kingdom:...
based on Florence NightingaleFlorence Nightingale OM, RRC was a celebrated English nurse, writer and statistician. She came to prominence for her pioneering work in nursing during the Crimean War, where she tended to wounded soldiers. She was dubbed "The Lady with the Lamp" after her habit of making rounds at night...
's principles opens at Bellevue.
- 1874: Bellevue inaugurates the nation's first children's clinic.
- 1876: Bellevue's emergency pavilion, the first in the nation, opens.
- 1879: A pavilion for the insane is erected within hospital grounds—an approach considered revolutionary at the time.
- 1883: Bellevue initiates a residency training program that is still the model for surgical training worldwide.
- 1884: The Carnegie Laboratory, the nation's first pathology
Pathology is the precise study and diagnosis of disease. The word pathology is from Ancient Greek , pathos, "feeling, suffering"; and , -logia, "the study of". Pathologization, to pathologize, refers to the process of defining a condition or behavior as pathological, e.g. pathological gambling....
and bacteriologyBacteriology is the study of bacteria. This subdivision of microbiology involves the identification, classification, and characterization of bacterial species...
laboratory, is founded at Bellevue.
- 1888: The first American nursing school for men is established.
- 1889: Bellevue physicians are first to report that tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
is a preventable disease.
- 1892: Bellevue establishes a dedicated unit for alcoholics.
- 1894: First successful operation of the abdomen for a pistol shot wound.
- 1903: In the midst of a tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
epidemicIn epidemiology, an epidemic , occurs when new cases of a certain disease, in a given human population, and during a given period, substantially exceed what is expected based on recent experience...
, the Bellevue Chest Service is founded.
- 1911: Bellevue opens the nation's first ambulatory cardiac clinic.
- 1917: First ward for metabolic disorders in the Western Hemisphere.
- 1919: German spy and saboteur Fritz Joubert Duquesne escapes the hospital prison ward after having feigned paralysis for nearly two years.
- 1933: William Tillett discovers streptokinase, later used for the acute treatment of myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
.
- 1935: Public School 106, the first public school for the emotionally disturbed children located in a public hospital opened at Bellevue.
- 1938: Paul Zoll completes internship at Bellevue and later develops the first cardiac pacemaker
- 1939: Bellevue becomes the site of the world's first hospital catastrophe unit.
- 1940: The world's first cardiopulmonary laboratory is established at Bellevue by Andre Cournand and Dickinson Richards, who win the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1956.
- 1952: Nation's first heart failure clinic opens, staffed by Eugene Braunwald
- Biography :Eugene Braunwald, an eminent American cardiologist, was born August 15, 1929 to Jewish parents Wilhelm Braunwald and Clara Wallach in Vienna....
- 1960: Nina Starr Braunwald performs the first mitral valve replacement
- 1962: Bellevue establishes the first intensive care unit
thumb|220px|ICU roomAn intensive-care unit , critical-care unit , intensive-therapy unit/intensive-treatment unit is a specialized department in a hospital that provides intensive-care medicine...
in a municipal hospital.
- 1967: Bellevue physicians perform the first cadaver kidney transplant.
- 1970: Bellevue joins the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation
The New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation operates the public hospitals and clinics in New York City. A public benefit corporation with $6.7 billion in annual revenues, HHC is the largest municipal healthcare system in the United States serving 1.3 million patients, including more than...
as one of 11 acute care hospitals.
- 1971: The first active immunization of serum
In blood, the serum is the component that is neither a blood cell nor a clotting factor; it is the blood plasma with the fibrinogens removed...
hepatitis B is developed by Bellevue physicians.
- 1981: Bellevue is certified as an official heart station for cardiac emergencies.
- 1982: Designated as a micro-surgical reimplantation center for the City of New York.
- 1983: Designated as a level one trauma center.
- 1988: Recognized by the City's Emergency Medical Services as a head and spinal cord injury center.
- 1990: Establishes an accredited residency training program in Emergency Medicine.
- 1996: Bellevue plays a key role in the development of the "Triple Drug Cocktail" or HAART, a breakthrough in the treatment of AIDS.
- 2001: Publication of the Bellevue Literary Review, the first literary magazine to arise from a medical center
External links