Fordham Hospital was the first public hospital in

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, having opened in 1892. Prior to that time, all the New York City municipal hospitals were in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. It was located in the Fordham 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. It moved to Aqueduct Avenue and St. James Place in 1898.

New building

On May 11, 1907, the hospital moved to a 4-acre (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 Fordham University () is a Private university, private Jesuit universities, Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the The Bronx, Bronx in which its origina ...

. The architect was Raymond F. Almirall. 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. Medical students from the Fordham University School of Medicine (1905-1921)interned at the hospital. In the mid-1930s, the

Federal Art Project The Federal Art Project (1935–1943) was a New Deal program to fund the visual arts in the United States. Under national director Holger Cahill, it was one of five Federal Project Number One projects sponsored by the Works Progress Administrati ...

Closure

The hospital was closed on July 15, 1976, by a decision of the then owner, the

New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation NYC Health + Hospitals, officially the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC), operates the public hospitals and clinics in New York City as a public benefit corporation. , HHC is the largest municipal healthcare system in the Uni ...

, despite extensive community protests, including a

sit-in A sit-in or sit-down is a form of direct action that involves one or more people occupying an area for a protest, often to promote political, social, or economic change. The protestors gather conspicuously in a space or building, refusing to mo ...

. Amongst those opposing the closure were

Bronx Community Board 6 Bronx Community Board 6 is a local government unit of the city of New York, encompassing the neighborhoods of Bathgate, Belmont, East Tremont, and West Farms as Bronx Community District 6. It is delimited by Bronx Park to the east and north, We ...

and Borough President

Robert Abrams Robert Abrams (born July 4, 1938) is an American attorney and politician. He served as the attorney general of New York from 1979 to 1993 and was the Democratic nominee for the 1992 United States Senate election in New York. Early life and educ ...

. The building was demolished soon afterward. The site is now The Fordham University Rose Hill Parking Facility. The

NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation NYC Health + Hospitals, officially the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC), operates the public hospitals and clinics in New York City as a public benefit corporation. , HHC is the largest municipal healthcare system in the Uni ...

, considered the new

North Central Bronx Hospital NYC Health + Hospitals/North Central Bronx, better known as North Central Bronx Hospital, is a municipal hospital founded in 1976 and operated by NYC Health + Hospitals. The 17 story Brutalist style building is located next to the Montefiore Medi ...

as the replacement for both Fordham Hospital and

Morrisania Hospital Morrisania Hospital was a four-structure full service hospital with an 11-story main building that was built in 1926 and closed in 1976. History The hospital, which had a separate structure for laundry, opened in 1929 as a 400-bed facility, t ...

References

{{authority control Fordham, Bronx Defunct hospitals in the Bronx Historic sites in New York City 1892 establishments in New York (state) Hospitals established in 1892 Hospitals disestablished in 1976 Hospital buildings completed in 1907