Babies Hospital

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The Babies Hospital, New York City’s first dedicated hospital for children, was founded in 1887 by Drs. Sarah McNutt and Julia McNutt and three other women. The hospital’s original site was a brownstone at the corner of Lexington Avenue and 55th Street, purchased by the founders. Before its opening, only 27 of the 10,000 beds in all of New York City's hospitals were specifically designated for infants and children.

Soon after its opening, Babies Hospital adopted this as its guiding principle: “The mission of the Babies Hospital is to relieve mental and physical distress, and even though the death rate is increasing thereby, a case is never refused admission because it is hopeless.”

In the many decades since its founding, Babies Hospital physicians were instrumental in shaping the field of modern pediatrics and establishing numerous medical sub-specialties, including pediatric radiology, pediatric neurology, and neonatology.

Many of the medical and technical innovations developed at Babies Hospital are widely used today, including the first incubators for premature babies in the U.S.; the Apgar score, which remains the international standard for assessing newborn health within 60 seconds of birth; the Sweat test to diagnose cystic fibrosis; and the studies that led to the FDA approval of the vaccine for varicella zoster (chickenpox). In 1900, Babies Hospital became a teaching affiliate of Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons. The first successful pediatric heart transplant was performed at Babies Hospital (by then Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center) in 1984.

Babies Hospital History

1887-1900

In 1887, Dr. Sarah McNutt, her sister Dr. Julia McNutt, and three members of the board of New York Infirmary, Jeannie Smith, Isabella Satterthwaite, and Isabella Banks joined together to found a hospital for infants and children. They named the facility The Babies' Hospital, because the mortality of children was highest in the first three years of life at that time. The hospital, which initially had only women resident physicians, had 30 beds for sick infants and children up to three years of age, and malnutrition was the most common diagnosis. Its early leaders focused on milk sterilization, good nutrition, and sanitary practices. In 1888, L. Emmett Holt was appointed medical director. During his career, Dr. Holt, who earned his medical degree at Columbia in 1880, laid the groundwork for the modern field of pediatrics, and under his leadership, Babies Hospital became the leading pediatric hospital of its time. His 1897 textbook, Diseases of Infancy and Childhood, was the first modern textbook of pediatrics and the definitive textbook in the field for the next 40 years. This textbook, in its 23rd edition as of 2018, is now published as Rudolph’s Pediatrics.

The first fully specialized pediatric perinatal pathologist practicing exclusively in a North American children’s hospital was Martha Wollstein, MD, who was the pathologist of record at Babies Hospital as of 1892.

Babies Hospital incorporated medical and technical innovations from its early years, starting with the use of the first incubators in the U.S; until this innovation, many premature babies had died because they were unable to regulate their body temperature.

1900-1929

In 1900, Babies Hospital became a teaching affiliate of Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons. The university traces its roots to King’s College, which was established in 1767 and renamed Columbia College in 1784. In 1900 the Rockefeller family funded the construction of a new Babies Hospital at its original site. That 10-story building still stands today.

Notable contributors to medical advances at Babies Hospital in this period include Dorothy Reed Mendenhall, one of the first female physicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, whose work as a pediatric physician specializing in cellular pathology led to the discovery that Hodgkin's disease was not a form of tuberculosis, as had been thought. She noted the presence of the cell (Reed-Sternberg cell) characteristic of the disease.

In 1922, Babies Hospital physicians established the first pediatric radiology service.

In 1929, Babies Hospital joined Presbyterian Hospital, the Neurological Institute, and the College of Physicians & Surgeons of Columbia University, to build Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, located between West 165th and 168th Streets and Broadway. Babies Hospital retained an independent corporate identity until it was completely merged into Presbyterian Hospital on Dec. 31, 1943.

The new facility in northern Manhattan had 204 beds for children up to 12 years of age. The New York Times celebrated the new Babies Hospital as “the last word in hospital design and equipment,” with private and shared patient rooms, playrooms, solariums, and a roof garden. The facilities also incorporated a nurse’s training center and dormitory, classrooms for medical students, and administrative offices.

1930-1967: Rustin McIntosh era and key innovations

From 1930-1960, Rustin McIntosh, MD was chief of pediatrics at Babies Hospital. Under his leadership, the hospital was among the first in the country to develop programs in neonatal care, pediatric surgery, radiology, neurology, hematology-oncology, and psychiatry. As the director of pediatrics at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, he assembled a department of noted pediatric subspecialists. These included Dorothy Hansine Andersen, Hattie Alexander (infectious disease), William Silverman (neonatology), John Caffey (radiology), and James Wolff (Hematology-Oncology).

Hattie Elizabeth Alexander, MD, is known for developing the first effective remedy for Haemophilus influenzae infection, and her work significantly reduced infant death rates and advanced the field of microbiological genetics. Dr. Alexander was also the first woman elected president of the American Pediatric Society.

Babies Hospital faculty members were the first to describe many syndromes for the first time by, such as Kasabach-Merritt syndrome (1940), McCune-Albright syndrome (1937), and Riley-Day syndrome (1949).

In 1953, anesthesiologist Virginia Apgar, MD, created a simple scoring method for predicting infant health, now universally known as the “Apgar score.” The Apgar score measures five body functions to determine the need for life-saving assistance within 60 seconds of birth and remains the international standard for assessing newborn health. James Wolff, MD was a founding member of the Children’s Cancer Group, the first cooperative cancer treatment consortium in the United States, and also collaborated with Dr. Vincent Freda to discover the therapy for Rh disease.

Babies Hospital physicians identified the difference between celiac disease and cystic fibrosis, and in 1959, hospital physicians developed the sweat test, the noninvasive and now standard test for identifying cystic fibrosis.

1968-1991

In 1968, the hospital erected a new adjacent building, where Dr. Michael Katz, a renowned specialist in infectious diseases, became hospital chairman and held the position for the next 15 years.

Under the leadership of Dr. Katz, Dr. Eric Rose performed the first pediatric heart transplant in 1984, the syndrome of persistent fetal circulation was described, and the continuous positive alveolar pressure (CPAP) therapy for premature infants was developed. Shaken Baby syndrome was described in 1972.

1992-Present

In 1992, Dr. John Driscoll was named chairman, and remained chair for the next 15 years. Dr. Driscoll, a neonatologist, had directed the Babies Hospital neonatal intensive care unit since 1971. During Dr. Driscoll’s tenure as chair, he was instrumental in the construction of the new Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital. He retired in June 2007.

In this period, the research of Dr. Anne Gershon was critical to the widespread adoption of the varicella vaccine, which prevents chickenpox.

In 1997, the New York Hospital merged with The Presbyterian Hospital to create the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, which united the two existing medical centers each affiliated with an Ivy League university – Columbia-Presbyterian and the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center. New additions funded by Morgan Stanley led to the opening of the Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center in 2003.

References

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