Because the papers 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.
Weekly reports of the Dept. of Surgery of the Presbyterian Hospital, 1935-1942. Each report includes number of admissions, discharges and deaths; number of operations by surgeon; complications; and “interesting cases.”
History and Biography
Presbyterian Hospital was founded by Robert Lenox, a philanthropist and book collector, and a committee of Presbyterian laymen in January 1868. Though supported by Presbyterians, the hospital was explicitly declared to be open to all “without regard to race, creed, or color.”
The hospital opened its doors on Oct. 10, 1872 on a site bounded by Madison and Park Avenues, 70th and 71st Streets. In 1911, assisted by generous financial support from Edward S. Harkness, it affiliated with Columbia University’s College of Physicians & Surgeons, allowing the College’s students free access to its wards for instructional purposes. In 1928 the medical school and the hospital were physically united in the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center located on West 168th St. in the Washington Heights neighborhood of northern Manhattan.
Organization
Weekly reports of the Dept. of Surgery of the Presbyterian Hospital, 1935-1942. Each report includes number of admissions, discharges and deaths; number of operations by surgeon; complications; and “interesting cases.” Each report is usually one and never more than two pages.
During this time the hospital’s surgical service was organized in three divisions: 1st and 2nd Divisions, which don’t appear to have corresponded to any specific type of surgical operations; and the Fracture Service, which dealt with orthopedic cases.
Box 1: Weekly reports, 1st & 2nd Surgical Divisions, 1936-1942
Box 2: Weekly reports, Fracture Service, 1935-1942