Coler Specialty Hospital is a chronic care facility on

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

's Roosevelt Island 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 Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as ''Superstorm Sandy'') was an extremely destructive and strong Atlantic hurricane, as well as the largest Atlantic hurricane on record as measured by diameter, with tropical-storm-force winds spann ...

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 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 Harriet Bell (July 14, 1923 – September 10, 1995) was an American advocate for disability rights. She was a co-founder and director of the Polio Information Center and a member of the New York State Board for Nursing. Residing in the Goldwater Me ...

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 ''The Exorcist'' is a 1973 American supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin and written for the screen by William Peter Blatty, based on his 1971 novel of the same name. It stars Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Lee J. Cobb, Kitty ...

'' began

principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...

at Goldwater, shooting a scene where Jason Miller as Father Karras and

Titos Vandis Titos Vandis ( el, Τίτος Βανδής; 7 November 1917 – 23 February 2003) was a Greek actor. Biography Vandis began his career on the Greek stage in the late 1930s. In 1962, he won the Best Actor award for the film ''Poliorkia'' at ...

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 Cornell Tech is a technology, business, law, and design campus of Cornell University located on Roosevelt Island in Manhattan, New York City. It includes the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute, a joint academic venture between Cornell and the Tec ...

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

* Hospital buildings completed in 1939 Hospital buildings completed in 1952 Hospitals in Manhattan Roosevelt Island NYC Health + Hospitals Defunct hospitals in Manhattan {{authority control