Because the records may include Confidential Health Information (CHI) as defined by Columbia University policies governing data security and privacy, access is allowed only under the terms of Archives and Special Collections’ Access Policy to Records Containing Confidential Health Information.
History and Biography
The modern department of medicine at Columbia began in 1928 with the opening of the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. By terms of the affiliation agreement of 1921 between Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University, professional members of the department were appointed by the hospital upon their nomination by the Trustees of the university. The department is responsible for research and the teaching of medical students - through the university's College of Physicians and Surgeons - and for patient care through the auspices of Presbyterian Hospital.
On Dec. 31, 1997, Presbyterian Hospital and New York Hospital merged to form New York-Presbyterian Hospital.
Organization
Records of the chairman of the department of medicine from the tenures of Stanley E. Bradley (1960-1970), Henry Aranow (acting 1970-1971), Charles A. Ragan, Jr. (1971-1975), and Daniel V. Kimberg (1975-1978). This is only a fragment of the records that once must have existed, chiefly the "A" through "D" subjects.
The largest subject by size is ambulatory care. The period documented here saw an expansion and renovation of the Vanderbilt Clinic, where emergency care was administered. It also saw a huge increase in admissions as private physicians fled the Medical Center's declining neighborhood and local residents turned to the hospital's emergency room for medical care.
Other well-documented subjects in the records include the search for a new physician-in-chief for Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital, a Columbia University affiliate in Cooperstown, N.Y.; the revamping of the department's major clinical year clerkship; problems at Francis Delafield Hospital, a municipal cancer hospital staffed by Columbia faculty; and correspondence with Alvan L. Barach, inventor of the first practicable oxygen tent, on establishing an endowed professorship in his name.
The folder on Franklin M. Hanger (1894-1971), a long-time professor of medicine does not appear to be from the chairman's records. It consists of carbon copies of correspondence from a department staff member to Hanger after his retirement to Virginia in the early 1960s. The correspondence comments extensively on departmental happenings. The writer is unidentified but internal evidence suggests it was Jeannette Molter, an administrative assistant in the department of medicine. Also included is a humorous 1942 letter from Hanger to fellow faculty member Yale Kneeland (then in military service) describing the "deserted" Medical Center during wartime.
Subject Headings and Related Records
Administrative Information
Archives & Special Collections possesses no record relating to the transfer of these records. They were acquired by 1997.