NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center (NYP-WC), formerly known as The New York Hospital prior to merging with The Presbyterian Hospital in 1998, can trace its roots back to colonial New York in 1769 when Dr. Samuel Bard made an appeal to the citizenry of the City of New York for a hospital to serve its expanding population. Two years later, King George III of England granted a royal charter to the Society of the Hospital in the City of New York. During the Revolutionary War, the hospital was utilized for the treatment of colonial soldiers wounded in our nation’s struggle for independence. In 1791, the hospital opened its doors to serve all the people of New York.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, The New York Hospital facilitated affiliations with the Lying-in Hospital of the City of New York, the first to provide obstetrical care to the women of New York, and the Bloomingdale Asylum to care for those in the community afflicted with mental illness. The commitment to the care of women and children evolved concurrently as The New York Hospital integrated the New York Asylum for Lying-In Women, the Nursery for the Children of Poor Women, and the New York Infant Asylum, as well as the House of Relief for emergency care. In 1898, Cornell University Medical College was founded, followed by its affiliation with The New York Hospital in 1927, leading to the formation of the medical center.
In 1932, the Hospital constructed the Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic, which was designed to provide a peaceful and gracious environment for the storied members of American society. In 1976, the world-renowned William Randolph Hearst Burn Center opened. Affiliated with the New York Firefighters Burn Center Foundation, the Burn Center is one of the largest in the country and its interdisciplinary team has treated thousands of New Yorkers over four decades, including those who survived the 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.
In 1998, The New York Hospital merged with The Presbyterian Hospital to form NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. The combined institutions had 2,170 inpatient beds and employed over 12,400 people, making it the largest medical center in New York City.
NewYork-Presbyterian Komansky Children’s Hospital, a full-service, multidisciplinary “children’s hospital within a hospital” was established at NYP-WC through a generous grant from Phyllis and David Komansky in 2005. The Komansky Children’s Hospital is among the nation’s leading centers for pediatric care, medical education, and scientific research.
In August 2020, NewYork-Presbyterian Alexandra Cohen Hospital for Women and Newborns opened. The Cohen hospital is a new state-of-the-art facility that offers the full range of services for before, during, and after childbirth—including specialized prenatal and high-level care for newborns in need of extra support.
Nursing Evolution
In 1799, as a precursor of organized nursing prior to the innovations in the following century led by Florence Nightingale, The New York Hospital course of training for nurses was organized. In 1877, The New York Hospital training School for Nurses was established on 15th Street in Manhattan, which evolved into The New York Hospital School of Nursing upon the affiliation of The New York Hospital with Cornell University. Notable graduates of the nursing school include Lilian Wald, the founder of VNS; Clara Weeks, the first author of a nursing textbook in the United States; and Julia Stimson, the chief nurse of the Red Cross in France during World War 1.
During the financial downturn in the 1970s, New York State withdrew funding and the nursing school was forced to close. In the subsequent decades, NewYork-Presbyterian has forged academic affiliations with dozens of notable nursing programs, and today, secondary to a robust financial support mechanism to support professional growth, the nursing workforce is moving towards a united baccalaureate prepared nursing staff with graduate preparation required for all leadership. Certification programs are offered through NYP’s centralized Division of Nursing Education.
NYP/Weill Cornell Today
Today, NewYork-Presbyterian is nationally renowned for a number of specialty programs. These include its liver transplantation program, which offers adult living donor transplantation and expanded donor criteria. NYP is the first institution to offer fully laparoscopic living liver donation. The hospital also has among the highest success rates and the shortest wait time for liver transplants in the country. The Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Program at NYP-WC, the oldest kidney transplant program in New York State and one of the highest volume programs in the country, is nationally recognized for developing innovative strategies that allow for successful transplants.
NYP-WC is a Level 1 Trauma Center for adults and pediatrics and its Burn Center serves as the regional Burn Center for New York City. The hospital’s emergency services include one of the largest hospital-based ambulance services in the northeast. The hospital also has a hyperbaric program and major services for stroke care and percutaneous coronary intervention, providing pre-eminent emergency care for all New Yorkers. In 2020, the new Alexandra Cohen Hospital for Women and Newborns opened, providing top-notch care for mothers and neonates.
NYP-WC is also a leader in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) care. In 2016, NYP was chosen as one of a select group of healthcare organizations to be named a Leader in LGBT Healthcare Equality by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, the largest LGBT civil rights advocacy group and political lobbying organization in the United States.
Nursing’s unique contribution to NewYork-Presbyterian continues to evolve. The stated mission of our institution is to provide the community with high quality care that is safe and has as its keystone a commitment to compassion supported and defined by the professional nursing staff.
2023 Measures of Distinction
48%
National Board Certification Rate
97%
Percent of RNs with BSN and Higher Degrees
85
Newly Obtained National Board Certification
48
Formal Degrees Conferred
5
Nursing Research Studies in Completed
7
Nursing Research Studies in Progress
2
Professional Publication
9
Podium Presentations
16
Poster Presentations