Coler Specialty Hospital

Coler Specialty Hospital
NYC Health + Hospitals
Geography
Location	900 Main Street, New York, New York, United States
Coordinates	40°46′13″N73°56′32″W / 40.77028°N 73.94222°W / 40.77028; -73.94222
Organization
Funding	Public hospital
Type	Specialist
Network	NYC Health + Hospitals
Services
Beds	1,025 [1]
Speciality	Chronic care, physical rehabilitation, geriatrics, HIV/AIDS, Alzheimer's care
History
Opened	1939 (Welfare Hospital) [2] 1952 (Bird S. Coler Hospital)
Closed	2013 (Goldwater campus)
Links
Website	nychhc.org/coler
Lists	Hospitals in New York State
Other links	Hospitals in Manhattan

Coler Specialty Hospital was a chronic care facility on New York City's Roosevelt Island that provides services such as rehabilitation and specialty nursing. ^[1] The hospital was formed in 1996 by the merger of two separate chronic care hospitals on Roosevelt Island. ^[3] Goldwater Memorial Hospital, on the south end of the island, closed in 2013, while Bird S. Coler Hospital is still located on the north end of the island.

Bird S. Coler Specialty Hospital

Bird S. Coler Hospital (referred to more recently as Coler Specialty Hospital and Nursing Facility ^[4] ) opened in 1952 and occupies most of the north tip of the island. According to city officials, as of 2015 ^[update] , there were no immediate plans to close the north campus. ^[5] The number of beds has increased from 500 to 815 to, as of 2012, 1,025; ^[6] in 2020 they were described as "one of the largest public nursing facilities in the world." ^[7]

They received part of the Federal government's post Hurricane Sandy funding of "$1.6 Billion for Storm Improvements." ^[8]

Goldwater Memorial Hospital

Goldwater Memorial Hospital opened in 1939 as the Welfare Hospital for Chronic Disease ^[2] on a 9.9 acre (4.0 hectare) tract just south of the Queensboro Bridge. ^[9] The hospital, which included a medical library, was named for Dr. S.S. Goldwater, the New York City Hospitals Commissioner responsible for the hospital complex master plan, in 1942. ^[2] It operated as a center for polio survivors, providing needed long-term care. One of its patients, Harriet Bell lived there from 1954 to 1979 and served on the hospital board as president for four terms, assisting in the drafting of the Patient's Bill of Rights. ^[10]

In mid-August 1972, the movie The Exorcist began principal photography at Goldwater, shooting a scene where Jason Miller as Father Karras and Titos Vandis as his uncle argue about the care Karras's aging mother is receiving. ^[11]

Goldwater was built on city-owned land, and shut its doors on December 31, 2013, ^[12] to provide for the new Cornell Tech campus. The hospital's closure and patient relocation was first announced in 2010, and demolition began in January 2014 with the removal of asbestos. ^{[13] [14] [15]}

References

1. "About NYC Health + Hospitals/Coler". NYC Health + Hospitals. 2015. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
2. Jackson, Kenneth T., ed. (2010). The Encyclopedia of New York City (2nd ed.). New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 1333. ISBN   978-0-300-11465-2.
3. "History of Coler-Goldwater Hospital". Archived from the original on December 7, 2002. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
4. "Community Relations: NYC Health & Hospitals 2016/07" (PDF).
5. "Hospital Patients Forced Out as Roosevelt Island Tech Campus Moves In – Roosevelt Island". DNAinfo.com. Archived from the original on July 4, 2015. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
6. "Project# 112344-C" (PDF).
7. "The King Lear Project: Coler Specialty Hospital". October 14, 2020.
8. "Four New York City Hospitals to Receive $1.6 Billion for Storm Improvements". The New York Times . November 6, 2014.
9. "Will Head New Hospital". The New York Times . April 2, 1939. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved March 28, 2020.
10. Weiner, Florence (1986). No apologies (1st ed.). New York, New York: St. Martin's Press. p.  x. ISBN   0-312-57523-8.
11. Kermode, Mark (2008). The Exorcist. BFI Modern Classics. British Film Institute. p. 42. ISBN   9780851709673.
12. Hog Farm to Prison / Hospital to Tech Campus, Main Street Wire Archived February 1, 2014, at the Wayback Machine , page 21. "Cornell wins NYC science-campus competition" By Samantha Gross, Associated Press. December 19, 2011
13. Main Street Wire.
14. De Avila, Joseph; Saul, Michael Howard (December 17, 2011). "Stanford Drops City Bid" . Wall Street Journal . ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved September 10, 2023.
15. "Paralyzed Roosevelt Island Residents Face Displacement By Cornell" . Gothamist. February 19, 2023. Archived from the original on March 2, 2019. Retrieved September 10, 2023.

External links

• Official website