Fordham Hospital

Fordham Hospital in the Bronx was operated by the City of New York.

Fordham was the first public hospital in the Bronx, and opened in 1892. Prior to that time, all the New York City municipal hospitals were in Manhattan. It was located in the Fordham, Bronx section of the Bronx on Valentine Avenue near Kingsbridge Road, which at the time was a relatively undeveloped area, and inconvenient for patients and their families.^[1] It moved to Aqueduct Avenue and St. James Place in 1898.

On May 11, 1907, the hospital moved to a 4 acres (1.6 ha) location just northwest of the intersection of Southern Boulevard and Crotona Avenue, adjacent to what was then St. John's College, now Fordham University. The architect was Raymond F. Almirall.^[2] The hospital and university were affiliated at least to the extent of sharing the hospital president, who was also the dean of Fordham's medical school, which opened in 1913.^[3]

In the mid-1930s, the Federal Art Project sponsored interior murals by artists Emily Newton Barto and Elizabeth Deering.

The hospital was closed on July 15, 1976, by a decision of the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation,^[4] despite extensive community protests,^[5] including a sit-in, and the building was demolished soon afterward. The site is now a parking lot.

References

1. History of Medicine in New York: Three Centuries of Medical Progress, Volume 3, by James Joseph Walsh, 1919, page 728.
2. The City Record, Volume 34, Part 5, by New York (N.Y.), page 4528, May 11, 1906.
3. Fordham: A History and Memoir, by Raymond A. Schroth, page 127.
4. "Fordham Hospital Closing July 15". New york Times. July 3, 1976. p. 20. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
5. "The Ram", Fordham student newspaper, November 19, 1975, page 1.

Coordinates: 40°51′33″N 73°52′53″W / 40.85922°N 73.88135°W