Brooklyn Central Dispensary (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.).

In colonial New York, only a small number of almshouse infirmaries existed to care for the sick, while the mentally ill were usually imprisoned or placed in poorhouses. It was not until the early to mid-19th century, when the New York City area's dependent and poor population increased dramatically, that hospitals and other health services organizations, such as homeopaths and maternity wards, readily began to emerge. In Brooklyn specifically, the earliest hospitals included the Kings County Hospital, which grew out of an almshouse infirmary in 1831, and the Brooklyn City Hospital, which was incorporated in 1845. One of Brooklyn's first mental institutions was also established in Flatbush in 1845.

Most health services organizations that were established during this period were affiliated with charitable organizations, religious denominations, or ethnic groups, and had meager resources with which to care for patients. Hospitals, for instance, provided shelter, meals, and only minimal medical care, usually administered by poorly trained staff in unsanitary conditions, while mental health institutions suffered from extreme overcrowding. Because of the social stigma attached to such institutions, middle and upper class citizens usually received medical care in the privacy of their homes.

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