Coler Specialty Hospital is a
chronic care Chronic care refers to medical care which addresses pre-existing or long-term illness, as opposed to acute care which is concerned with short term or severe illness of brief duration. Chronic medical conditions include asthma, diabetes, emphysema, ...
facility on
New York City's
Roosevelt Island
Roosevelt Island is an island in New York City's East River, within the borough of Manhattan. It lies between Manhattan Island to the west, and the borough of Queens, on Long Island, to the east. Running from the equivalent of East 46th to 85 ...
that provides services such as rehabilitation and specialty nursing.
The hospital was formed in 1996 by the merger of two separate chronic care hospitals on Roosevelt Island.
Goldwater Memorial Hospital, on the south end of the island, closed in 2013, while Bird S. Coler Hospital is still located on the north end of the island.
Facilities
Bird S. Coler Specialty Hospital
Bird S. Coler Hospital (referred to more recently as Coler Specialty Hospital and Nursing Facility) opened in 1952 and occupies most of the north tip of the island. According to city officials, , there were no immediate plans to close the north campus.
The number of beds has increased from 500 to 815 to, as of 2012, 1,025; in 2020 they were described as "one of the largest public nursing facilities in the world."
They received part of the Federal government's post
Hurricane Sandy funding of "$1.6 Billion for Storm Improvements."
Goldwater Memorial Hospital
Goldwater Memorial Hospital opened in 1939 as the Welfare Hospital for Chronic Disease
on a 9.9 acre (4.0 hectare) tract just south of the
Queensboro Bridge
The Queensboro Bridge, officially named the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, is a cantilever bridge over the East River in New York City. Completed in 1909, it connects the neighborhood of Long Island City in the borough of Queens with the Upper East ...
. The hospital, which included a medical library, was named for
Dr. S.S. Goldwater, the New York City Hospitals Commissioner responsible for the hospital complex master plan, in 1942.
It operated as a center for polio survivors, providing needed long-term care. One of its patients,
Harriet Bell lived there from 1954 to 1979 and served on the hospital board as president for four terms, assisting in the drafting of the Patient's Bill of Rights.
In mid-August 1972, the movie ''
The Exorcist'' began
principal photography at Goldwater, shooting a scene where
Jason Miller as Father Karras and
Titos Vandis as his uncle argue about the care Karras's aging mother is receiving.
Goldwater was built on city-owned land, and shut its doors on December 31, 2013 to provide for the new
Cornell Tech campus. The hospital's closure and patient relocation was first announced in 2010, and demolition began in January 2014 with the removal of asbestos.
References
External links
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Hospital buildings completed in 1939
Hospital buildings completed in 1952
Hospitals in Manhattan
Roosevelt Island
NYC Health + Hospitals
Defunct hospitals in Manhattan
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