The James J. Peters VA Medical Center, (also known as the Bronx Veterans Hospital), is a

US Department of Veterans Affairs The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with providing life-long healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 170 VA medical centers a ...

hospital complex located at 130 West Kingsbridge Road in West Fordham,

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. The hospital is the headquarters of the Veterans Integrated Service Networks New York/New Jersey VA Health Care Network. This network is also the parent network to

VA New York Harbor Healthcare System The VA New York Harbor Healthcare System is a set of hospitals run by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs in the New York City area. It comprises three medical centers, two community outpatient clinics, and five veterans centers. The ...

. The campus falls under the jurisdiction of the

United States Department of Veterans Affairs Police The United States Department of Veterans Affairs Police (VA Police) is the uniformed law enforcement service of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, responsible for the protection of the VA Medical Centers (VAMC) and other facilities such a ...

and the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General.

History

During the American Revolutionary War, the site of the medical center was the location of British '"Fort Number 6" (1777–1779). During the 19th century, the land was part of the estate of Nathaniel Platt Bailey. The site then became the property of the

Sisters of Charity of New York The Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul of New York, most often known as the Sisters of Charity of New York, is a religious congregation of sisters in the Catholic Church whose primary missions are education and nursing and who are dedicate ...

who turned it into the Bronx Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum. The hospital opened as United States Veterans' Hospital no. 81 on April 15, 1922. By the 1970s, the original hospital had deteriorated to the point that a

Life magazine ''Life'' was an American magazine published weekly from 1883 to 1972, as an intermittent "special" until 1978, and as a monthly from 1978 until 2000. During its golden age from 1936 to 1972, ''Life'' was a wide-ranging weekly general-interest ma ...

article was written about it. One of the hospital's patients during this time period was

Ron Kovic Ronald Lawrence Kovic (born July 4, 1946) is an American anti-war activist, writer, and United States Marine Corps sergeant who was wounded and paralyzed in the Vietnam War. His 1976 memoir ''Born on the Fourth of July'' was made into the Acad ...

, who described the hospital as having "deplorable conditions". The hospital was eventually rebuilt in the late 1970s to address these issues. The Bronx Veterans hospital was renamed after James J. Peters in 2002. Peters, a US Army veteran, was patient of the Bronx Veterans Hospital who founded several organizations to address the needs of patients with

spinal cord injuries A spinal cord injury (SCI) is damage to the spinal cord that causes temporary or permanent changes in its function. Symptoms may include loss of muscle function, sensation, or autonomic function in the parts of the body served by the spinal co ...

, including the United Spinal Association, originally known as the Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association. The

Fisher House Foundation Fisher House Foundation is a charity and foundation that builds comfort homes where military & veterans families can stay free of charge, while a loved one is in the hospital. Fisher Houses are located at major military and VA medical centers n ...

is building two Fisher houses on the James J. Peters VA Medical Center grounds in 2018.

Research

The hospital has been a center of medical research for decades. Ludwik Gross who became the director of the Cancer Research Division started his research at the hospital in 1944. Beginning in the 1950s

Rosalyn Sussman Yalow Rosalyn Sussman Yalow (July 19, 1921 – May 30, 2011) was an American medical physicist, and a co-winner of the 1977 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (together with Roger Guillemin and Andrew Schally) for development of the radioimmunoassa ...

and

Solomon Berson Solomon Aaron Berson (April 22, 1918 – April 11, 1972) was an American physician and scientist whose discoveries, mostly together with Rosalyn Yalow, caused major advances in clinical biochemistry.Rall JE. ''Solomon A. Berson''. In "Biographical ...

conducted research into

radioimmunoassay A radioimmunoassay (RIA) is an immunoassay that uses radiolabeled molecules in a stepwise formation of immune complexes. A RIA is a very sensitive in vitro assay technique used to measure concentrations of substances, usually measuring antigen con ...

. Their laboaratory at one point was a repurposed janitor’s closet. The research culminated in Yalow receiving the 1977

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, accordin ...

. (Her collaborator,

, who died in 1972 was not eligible for the prize, as Nobel prizes are not awarded posthumously.) In 1966 James Cimino and Michael J. Brescia developed the Cimino-Brescia fistula. In 1985 a dedicated five storey

medical research Medical research (or biomedical research), also known as experimental medicine, encompasses a wide array of research, extending from " basic research" (also called ''bench science'' or ''bench research''), – involving fundamental scienti ...

building connected to the main building was erected. The research building contains the Spinal Cord Damage Research Center, established due to the efforts of the Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association (now United Spinal Association) and its director James J. Peters.

Personnel

Sterling and Yalow receiving Middleton Award 1973

–

Nobel laureate The Nobel Prizes ( sv, Nobelpriset, no, Nobelprisen) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make out ...

. Collaborated with Solomon Berson to develop

. *

– Collaborated with Rosalyn Sussman Yalow to develop radioimmunoassay. * Nicholas J. Cifarelli –

Nephrology Nephrology (from Greek'' nephros'' "kidney", combined with the suffix ''-logy'', "the study of") is a specialty of adult internal medicine and pediatric medicine that concerns the study of the kidneys, specifically normal kidney function (ren ...

. Later pioneered the first

Bioethics Bioethics is both a field of study and professional practice, interested in ethical issues related to health (primarily focused on the human, but also increasingly includes animal ethics), including those emerging from advances in biology, med ...

Advisory Committee in the United States. * James Cimino – Developed the Cimino-Brescia fistula with Michael J. Brescia. * Paul R. Cunningham - Surgeon. Later dean of

Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University Brody ( uk, Броди; russian: Броды, Brodï; pl, Brody; german: Brody; yi, בראָד, Brod) is a city in Zolochiv Raion of Lviv Oblast (province) of western Ukraine. It is located in the valley of the upper Styr River, approximately ...

. *

Shimon Glick Shimon M. Glick ( he, שמעון גליק; born 1932) is an American-born Israeli physician. Personal life Glick was born in New Jersey. Married to Brenda, his six children include the rabbi and former member of Knesset Yehuda Glick. Additional ...

- Worked in the laboratory of Berson and Yalow. Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at

Ben Gurion University Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) ( he, אוניברסיטת בן-גוריון בנגב, ''Universitat Ben-Guriyon baNegev'') is a public research university in Beersheba, Israel. Ben-Gurion University of the Negev has five campuses: the ...

. * Ludwik Gross – Director of the Cancer Research Division. Isolated murine polyomavirus. *

Victor Herbert Victor August Herbert (February 1, 1859 – May 26, 1924) was an American composer, cellist and conductor of English and Irish ancestry and German training. Although Herbert enjoyed important careers as a cello soloist and conductor, he is be ...

– hematologist. Worked in the Nutrition Research Laboratory. Known for

folate Folate, also known as vitamin B9 and folacin, is one of the B vitamins. Manufactured folic acid, which is converted into folate by the body, is used as a dietary supplement and in food fortification as it is more stable during processing and ...

and

megaloblastic anemia Megaloblastic anemia is a type of macrocytic anemia. An anemia is a red blood cell defect that can lead to an undersupply of oxygen. Megaloblastic anemia results from inhibition of DNA synthesis during red blood cell production. When DNA synthes ...

research. * David B. Levine – Orthopaedic surgeon. Various positions at the

Hospital for Special Surgery Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) is a hospital in New York City that specializes in orthopedic surgery and the treatment of rheumatologic conditions. Founded in 1863 by James Knight, HSS is the oldest orthopedic hospital in the United States ...

. * Charles S. Lieber – Clinical

nutritionist A nutritionist is a person who advises others on matters of food and nutrition and their impacts on health. Some people specialize in particular areas, such as sports nutrition, public health, or animal nutrition, among other disciplines. In many c ...

. Known for research into excess alcohol consumption and

cirrhosis Cirrhosis, also known as liver cirrhosis or hepatic cirrhosis, and end-stage liver disease, is the impaired liver function caused by the formation of scar tissue known as fibrosis due to damage caused by liver disease. Damage causes tissue repai ...

of the

liver The liver is a major organ only found in vertebrates which performs many essential biological functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the synthesis of proteins and biochemicals necessary for digestion and growth. In humans, it i ...

. * Giulio Maria Pasinetti – Director of the Translational Neuroscience Laboratories. Known for

neurology Neurology (from el, νεῦρον (neûron), "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the brain, the spinal ...

at the

Icahn School of Medicine The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS or Mount Sinai), formerly the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, is a private medical school in New York City. It is the academic teaching arm of the Mount Sinai Health System, which manages eight ...

. *

Jesse Roth Jesse Roth (born August 5, 1934) is an American physician and endocrinologist, currently at The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research. He received his BA in 1955 from Columbia University, his MD in 1959 from Albert Einstein College of Medicine ...

– insulin researcher. * Kenneth Sterling – Director of the protein research laboratory. Later made significant discoveries on thyroid hormone activation. * Larry J. Siever – Psychiatrist known for his contributions to the study of

personality disorders Personality disorders (PD) are a class of mental disorders characterized by enduring maladaptive patterns of behavior, cognition, and inner experience, exhibited across many contexts and deviating from those accepted by the individual's culture ...

Deaths of notable people

* Ronald Hearn –

officer was shot and killed in the line of duty on July 25, 1988 *

Eric Burroughs Eric Burroughs (November 6, 1911 – November 12, 1992) was an American stage and radio actor whose career spanned the 1930s to the early 1960s. He appeared in Orson Welles's all-Black Federal Theatre Project production of ''Macbeth''. Burroughs ...

– American stage and radio actor. * Isaac Woodard *

Timothy Wright Timothy Wright (June 17, 1947 – April 24, 2009), generally credited as Rev. Timothy Wright or Reverend Timothy Wright on recordings, was an American gospel singer and pastor. Biography Reverend Timothy Wright started on piano at age 12, and ...

–

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

-nominated gospel singer and pastor. Peters VA hosp chapel jeh

References

External links