A Chronology of

1847 total of $305,000 was 1885 eventually subscribed BUTLER and construction was PROVIDENCE LYING-IN HOSPITAL, In 1844, Nicholas Brown begun in December NOW WOMEN & INFANTS declared that he wished of 1864. The building Opened July 15 on Slocum Street in the for- to construct an asy- consisted of a central mer General James estate in Providence; lum for the mentally unit housing the ad- relocated two years later to 96 State Street. disturbed “where any ministration, chapel, The first house physician was Dr. E. Flood; person regardless of auditorium, library, admitting physician, Dr. K. II. Carver; ma- class or religion could better themselves.” kitchens and central apothecary; and two tron, Elizabeth Huggins. At the time of the For this laudable purpose, his will provid- wings extending in a north-south direc- first report, in 1887, 54 children had been ed $30,000. A request was sent to Cyrus tion. The wards were spacious 24-bed units born and no mother’s death had occurred. Butler, who agreed to donate $40,000. Ar- with adequate ventilation and sunlight. In 1926, the hospital moved to 50 Maude chitects William Tallman and James Buck- The board authorized the opening of about Street, and remained there for 60 years. In lin designed a Victorian Gothic structure 70 beds to serve the immediate medical 1986, Women & Infants Hospital was built in a park-like setting on Providence’s East needs of the Providence population, then as its successor Side off Blackstone Blvd., with the land- about 70,000. in a new facility scaping designed by Frederick Law Olmst- on Dudley Street ed, who also designed New York’s Central in Providence. Park. The trustees of the institution chose 1873 a physician, Isaac Ray, as the first super- intendent of the hospital. NEWPORT HOSPITAL 1888 Chartered in 1873, a site was purchased on Friendship Street; the hospital opened No- WOONSOCKET vember 22, 1873. During 1895–1896 four HOSPITAL new wards were added to the hospital; the Chartered in 1873, Vanderbilt ward for men, the Ledyard ward the hospital opened in September of 1888 for women and children, the Carey ward with six consulting physicians and sur- for paying patients, and the Vanderbilt sur- geons, three nurses and 26 beds. gical building. Departments for treatment of eye and ear diseases opened in 1896.

1862-’65 1878 ROGER WILLIAMS HOSPITAL LOVELL GENERAL HOSPITAL Founded in 1878 as a homeopathic In Portsmouth Grove, served as a hospital facility; moved to Chalkstone Av- for Civil War veterans. enue in 1925 and built a school of nursing soon after. 1884 RHODE ISLAND HOMEOPATHIC HOSPITAL 1892 Located in the cas- ST. JOSEPH’S HOSPITAL tellated English style [Above] Opened by the Roman granite mansion once Catholic Diocese of Prov- home to Charles and idence in the old 3-story Isabelle Nichols on Harris Estate along Broad 1868 Morris and Hazard Street between Peace and Avenues on the East Plenty Streets for the “sick, RHODE ISLAND HOSPITAL Side. A new surgical poor and suffering.” Shortly Opened on October 1, through the gen- building was subse- replaced by a 175-bed hos- erosity of the community, beginning in quently erected and pital building designed by 1857 with a bequest by the stable reconstruct- Gilbane and Brothers on to establish a fund for a general hospital ed for use as a conta- adjacent land. in Rhode Island. The Ives family provided gious cottage. Closed $75,000 for construction of the hospital. A in 1900.

WWW.RIMED.ORG | ARCHIVES | JANUARY WEBPAGE JANUARY 2017 RHODE ISLAND MEDICAL JOURNAL 19 1909 two years later as the nation’s first neuro- NAVAL HOSPITAL psychiatric hospital for children; funded Built in 1909 in Newport. Closed by George circa 1990; patients then sent to and Helen the newer nearby naval clinic. B r a d l e y , and named after their 1910 1925 daug hter, E m m a WESTERLY HOSPITAL Pendleton [Below] Opens as a community hospital. Bradley. Previously some surgical patients were sent to the Westerly Sanatorium, opened in 1910 by a Dr. John Champlin, a member of 1948 the Westerly Medical Society, in the hopes it would be a precursor to a general hospi- PROVIDENCE VA MEDICAL CENTER tal. The second floor operating room was Constructed for veterans after World War II. open for use by any surgeon. MEMORIAL HOSPITAL 1951 [Above] The Pawtucket hospital was funded by a $200,000 gift from William F. Sayles, KENT COUNTY MEMORIAL HOSPITAL after his death in 1894. Located on a 10- The Warwick hospital was chartered by acre Prospect Street site, with a memori- the State in 1946, and opened in 1951 with al hall, red-tiled roof and dome. The first 90 beds. patients were seen in October 1910. There were two 8-bed wards, for men and women, and private rooms. THE MIRIAM HOSPITAL 1954 [Right] Funded by the Jewish community, OUR LADY OF FATIMA HOSPITAL opened on November 15, 1925 in a con- Opened by the Diocese of Providence in verted apartment building at 31 Parade North Providence with 175 beds for chron- Street with 63 beds ically ill patients; became a general and 14 bassinets. hospital in 1955. By the end of the In 1944, purchased 1960s, St. Joseph and Fatima hospi- the former Jewish tals merged. Orphanage of Rhode Island on Summit PROVIDENCE CITY HOSPITAL Avenue; opened there 1962 [Above] Opened to treat patients with con- in 1952 with 150 beds. tagious diseases; later renamed the Charles JOHN E. FOGARTY V. Chapin Hospital. The building is now NOTRE DAME MEMORIAL HOSPITAL part of the campus of Providence College. HOSPITAL Iconic circular building, named Opened on Broad Street in Central Falls after Congressman John E. Fogarty, a funded by public subscription of members healthcare champion, opened in Exeter 1919 of the French-Canadian parishes through- on the grounds of the Ladd School. Later out the Blackstone Valley. demolished. SOUTH COUNTY HOSPITAL The hospital was founded in 1919 in a small, private home. A new facility was 1931 1988 built in 1925 on 6 acres in Wakefield. BRADLEY HOSPITAL LANDMARK MEDICAL CENTER Located in the Riverside section of East Created as a merger between Woonsocket 1922 Providence, founded in 1929 and opened Hospital and Fogarty Hospital of North Smithfield. HOMEOPATHIC HOSPITAL OF RHODE ISLAND [Right] Breaking ground on 1994 May 12, 1922. A series of smaller homeopathic hos- CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL pitals existed in Providence The hospital opened on Valentine’s Day from the late 1800s on. In 1994 in Providence, funded by the Hasbro 1904, there was both a hospi- Charitable Trust and other foundations and tal and dispensary on Jackson corporations. Street, Providence.

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