Mount Sinai

On January 15, 1852, nine men representing a variety of Jewish charities agreed on a vision for free medical care for indigent Jews in New York City. In 1855, that vision came to fruition with the establishment of the 45-bed Jews' Hospital in New York in what was then a rural neighborhood on West 28th Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues. Although the hospital was a sectarian institution, it accepted emergency patients of any religious affiliation. In its first years of operation, the majority of patients were foreign born. As the Jews' Hospital was a charitable enterprise, its directors relied on gifts from friends and members to provide enough to subsidize care. During World War II, nearly 900 physicians, nurses, staff members and trustees from The Mount Sinai Hospital saw wartime service. Of the 24 physicians and 65 nurses serving in World War I with Base Hospital No. 3 of the U.S. Army Medical Corps in France, the majority of doctors and nurses were from The Mount Sinai Hospital. The hospital has expanded rapidly both physically and in terms of service over time.