French Hospital (New York, N.Y.)

In 1809, a group of French people living in New York City founded La Société Française de Bienfaisance (The French Benevolent Society), a charitable organization devoted to assisting members of the local French community in need. The Society was formally incorporated in 1819 and over the next several decades formalized its constitution and by-laws to allow for an expansion of activities. In 1881, the first French Hospital, with the capacity to treat 25 patients, opened at 131 West 14th Street, and in 1885 four Marianite Sisters of the Holy Cross arrived to serve as nursing sisters for the hospital patients. In 1888, the hospital moved to two brownstones at 320-322 West 34th Street, where 50 beds were available. The Society built a seven story building at 459 West 34th Street in 1904 and expanded its capacity to 150 beds. Shortly after that, in 1907, the hospital sponsored a School of Nursing, which existed until 1935. The last French hospital building was constructed in 1929, at 324-240 West 30th Street, with 189 beds and a maternity unit with 62 beds and 62 bassinets. The hospital continued to operate as an independent institution until its merger in 1969 with Polyclinic, when it became the French and Polyclinic Medical School and Health Center. Until about 1902 most of the patients served by the French Hospital were indeed French, but as the hospital expanded it committed itself to providing care for patients of all nationalities. The hospital also took on as a special mission a commitment to making quality medical care available to men and women of moderate means.