Minutes closed for 25 years from date of creation.
Because the minutes 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.
Almost every aspect of the medical and surgical activities of Presbyterian Hospital is documented in the minutes including patient care, the introduction and employment of medical technology, nursing, professional staffing, and residency training.
History and Biography
Presbyterian Hospital was founded by Robert Lenox, a distinguished 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 door 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 March, 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, though both Columbia and Presbyterian remained independent corporate entities.
In 1925, Presbyterian absorbed the Vanderbilt Clinic and Sloane Hospital for Women, previously operated by the medical school. In 1933, Babies Hospital and the Neurological Institute of New York were consolidated into Presbyterian, though both institutions retained a separate corporate identity until a final merger on Dec. 31, 1943. In 1945, the New York Orthopaedic Hospital merged with Presbyterian; it moved to the Columbia-Presbyterian campus in 1950.
The Medical Board was established July 1872 in advance of the opening of the hospital buildings that October. It ceased to exist with the merger of Presbyterian Hospital with New York Hospital on Dec. 31, 1997 to form a new corporation, New York-Presbyterian Hospital.
Organization
Minutes of the Medical Board of the Presbyterian Hospital, 1872-1991. Almost every aspect of the medical and surgical activities of the hospital is documented in the minutes including patient care, the introduction and employment of medical technology, nursing care, professional staffing, and residency training.
Most volumes are indexed.
Subject Headings and Related Records
Administrative Information
On deposit from the Office of the Corporate Secretary, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, March 2009.