135-684: The Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital (also known as USPHS Hospital No. 43 ) was a United States Public Health Service hospital on Ellis Island , in New York Harbor , that operated from 1902 to 1951. The hospital is part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument . While the monument is managed by the National Park Service as part of the National Parks of New York Harbor office, the south side of Ellis Island, including
270-686: A boiler room; a morgue with autopsy room; and quarters for the laundry staff on the second floor. To the east of the Laundry Building, on island 2 is the psychopathic ward, a two-story building erected in 1906–1907. This building is the only structure in the hospital complex to have a flat roof, and it previously also had a porch to its south. It housed 25 to 30 beds and was intended for the temporary treatment of immigrants suspected of being insane or having mental disorders, pending their deportation, hospitalization, or commitment to sanatoria. Male and female patients were segregated, and there were also
405-620: A cadre of mobile, career service physicians, who could be assigned as needed to the various Marine Hospitals. The commissioned officer corps was formally established by legislation after the fact in 1889, and signed by President Grover Cleveland . The scope of activities of the Marine Hospital Service began to expand well beyond the care of merchant seamen in the closing decades of the nineteenth century, into control of infectious disease , collection of health statistics, and basic science research. Following cholera epidemics in
540-598: A dayroom, veranda, nurse's office, and small pantry on each floor. In 1952 the psychopathic ward was converted into a Coast Guard brig . The main General Hospital building is directly east of the psychopathic ward. It is composed of three similarly designed structures: from west to east, they are Hospital Building No. 1 (built 1900–1901), the Administration Building (1905–1907), and Hospital Building No. 2 (1908–1909). The 3.5-story building no. 1
675-508: A distinctive yellow-brick smokestack. Part of the building was converted into a morgue and autopsy room in the 1930s. United States Public Health Service The United States Public Health Service ( USPHS or PHS ) is a collection of agencies of the Department of Health and Human Services concerned with public health , containing nine out of the department's twelve operating divisions. The Assistant Secretary for Health oversees
810-400: A ferry basin. In response, the surgeon general indicated that an island "with an outside limit of 410 feet from the present island and with 200 feet of clear water space between the two islands, would be amply sufficient to ensure freedom from danger of contagion according to modern ideas of hospital construction. Contemporary hospital design and medical knowledge indicated that a single building
945-630: A few months the PHS doctors were examining sailors at the rate of 600,000 a year. The largest concerns were tuberculosis and venereal disease. In 1919, Ellis Island and its hospitals also served as immigration detentions centers after the US Government conducted the Palmer Raids. The Bureau of Investigation (the forerunner of the FBI) had begun rounding up immigrants across the country who had violated
1080-647: A few new divisions would be created. Because the Service took on broader responsibilities, in 1902 it was renamed as the Public Health and Marine Hospital Service. In 1912, under new authorizing legislation, it was established as the Public Health Service (PHS) to express the enlarged scope of its work. The 1912 PHS law ( Pub. L. 62–265 ) expanded the agency's mission from communicable to include non-communicable diseases . In 1913,
1215-414: A head tax to be paid to the federal government, which replaced one charged by New York State, which was declared unconstitutional in 1875 as per Henderson v. Mayor of City of New York , 92 U.S. 259. The local administration, however, was to be carried out by state officers designated by the various states involved. The Immigration Act of 1891 formalized previous immigration laws and gave full authority to
1350-489: A holistic approach to large, overarching problems. Additionally, a second wave of hospital closings during 1965–1970 closed the three remaining general hospitals at inland locations along the Mississippi River and Great Lakes , as well as the 19th-century Savannah hospital. In addition, St. Elizabeths Hospital and the psychiatric hospitals at Lexington and Fort Worth were transferred to other agencies, and
1485-429: A major role in fulfilling the Service's commitment to prevent disease from entering the country. As the nation grew, the scope of Marine Hospital Service's duties grew to include domestic and foreign quarantine and other national public health functions. Over time, the hospitals of the service were also expanded to include research and prevention work as well as the care of patients. Aside from merchant seamen, members of
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#17327755007551620-674: A nurses residence was removed. The Surgeons and their families lived the Staff House on Island 3 and the nurses quarters were all moved the Administrative building on Island 3. In addition to the new structures, extensive work was done on the Contagious Disease Hospital. Metal doors were added in the psychiatric wards. There were two maximum security psychiatric wards created by remodeling 2 measles wards, one for women and one for men. Specialized plumbing
1755-418: A separate facility, a new secure ward was required. The psychopathic ward, situated between the hospital outbuilding and the main hospital on Island 2, opened in 1907. The administration building was added in 1906–1907, which added another 125 beds. However, the number of immigrants nearly doubled (from 493,267 in 1902 to 1,004,756 in 1907), leaving the hospitals still extremely overcrowded. Between 1908 and 1909,
1890-402: A third building was constructed that has several names, originally called the hospital extension it was renamed Hospital Number 2 because it was almost the same size and layout as the first hospital. It had a capacity of 125 beds. When it opened it enabled the PHS to distribute patients to hospitals 1 and 2 and use the administration building for its original purpose. When Hospital 2 was completed,
2025-410: A wide range of disease, from measles , tuberculosis , trachoma , scarlet fever , Favus , and diphtheria , to tropical diseases imported from around the world. The hospital was an extremely effective institution. Its mortality rate was on par or better than most comparable hospitals. In 1917, Wilson, a PHS physician stationed at Ellis Island, conducted a study of the hospitals. He wrote that "Although
2160-639: A year. During the 1920s, however, the US Congress began to change its immigration policy from an Open Door to a very closed door policy. New immigration laws were passed, explicitly to allow some immigration from Northern and Western Europe while severely restricting immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe. The “National Origins Act,” passed in 1924, established a 2% quota system which drastically reduced immigration from targeted countries. In 1921 over 560,000 immigrants passed through Ellis Island. This drastically reduced overall numbers of immigrants. In 1925,
2295-462: Is considered military service for retirement purposes. Under 42 U.S.C. § 213 , active service in the PHSCC is considered active military service for the purposes of most veterans' benefits and for antidiscrimination laws. Modern public health began developing in the 19th century, as a response to advances in science that led to the understanding of the source and spread of disease. As
2430-480: Is now known as the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service . The scope of activities of the Marine Hospital Service began to expand well beyond the care of merchant seamen in the closing decades of the nineteenth century, beginning with the control of infectious disease . Starting in the mid-14th century, ships entering harbors were quarantined when any of the crew was sick. This practice
2565-444: Is shaped like an inverted "C" with two 2.5-story rectangular wings facing southward; the wings contain two-story-tall porches. The administration building is smaller but also 3.5 stories. The 3.5-story building no. 2 is similar to building no. 1, but also has a three-story porch at the south elevation of the central pavilion. All three buildings have stone-stoop entrances on their north facades and courtyards on their south. On Island 3,
2700-704: The Bureau of Indian Affairs in the Department of the Interior . Between 1966 and 1973, a series of reorganizations and realignments led to the end of the bureau structure. The reorganization by 1968 replaced PHS's old bureau structure with two new operating agencies: the Health Services and Mental Health Administration (HSMHA) and the Consumer Protection and Environmental Health Service (CPEHS), with NIH remaining independent and less affected by
2835-574: The Bureau of Medical Services provided direct patient care through hospitals and clinics as well as foreign quarantine facilities, and the National Institute of Health remained independent to perform laboratory research activities. Additionally, all of the laws affecting the functions of the public health agencies were consolidated for the first time in the Public Health Service Act of 1944 . The mid-20th century
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#17327755007552970-826: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . Beginning in the late 1920s and continuing through the New Deal era, a significant building campaign upgraded several marine hospitals into large, monumental buildings, in contrast with the smaller buildings common for the 19th-century buildings. PHS's headquarters were in the Butler Building , a converted mansion across the street from the United States Capitol , from 1891 until April 1929. It expanded into office space in Temporary Building C on
3105-603: The Daughters of the American Revolution provided a robust occupational therapy program for immigrants detained at Ellis Island. In 1936, the PHS was asked to help with the treatment of World War I veterans, some of whom had shell shock. Because of the success of the DAR's occupational expertise, they were given an entire pavilion (Isolation Ward J) where they worked with U.S. servicemen, merchant seamen, and members of
3240-802: The East Coast , and as the boundaries of the United States expanded , so too were marine hospitals. The Marine Hospital Service was placed under the Revenue Marine Service (a forerunner of the present-day Coast Guard ) within the Department of the Treasury . A reorganization in 1871 converted the loose network of locally controlled marine hospitals into a centrally controlled Marine Hospital Service , with its headquarters in Washington, D.C. This reorganization established
3375-551: The Galveston hospital was replaced with one acquired by PHS in nearby Nassau Bay . This left eight general hospitals plus the National Leprosarium in the system. The new agencies came to be seen as unwieldy and bureaucratic, and they would turn out to be short-lived. CPEHS was broken up in 1970, as much of it was transferred out of PHS to form the core of the new Environmental Protection Agency . Around
3510-744: The National Institutes of Health , began as a single-room laboratory for bacteriological investigation at the Staten Island Marine Hospital , and moved to Washington, D.C. in 1891. In 1899, internal divisions were formed for the first time, specifically the Divisions of Marine Hospitals, Domestic Quarantine, Foreign Quarantine, Sanitary Reports and Statistics, Scientific Research, and Personnel and Accounts. These original divisions would remain through 1943, although there were minor name changes throughout this time, and
3645-633: The National Leprosarium operating. The system was abolished in 1981, with the last eight general hospitals transferred to other organizations, and the remaining functions of the Bureau of Medical Services merged into the present Bureau of Primary Health Care within the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). PHS would however continue to operate the National Leprosarium until 1999. Other pre-1912 divisions of
3780-789: The National Mall in July 1920, which became its temporary headquarters after the Butler Building was closed for demolition. In May 1933, the new Public Health Service Building opened on the National Mall . By 1943, PHS contained eight administrative divisions, plus the National Cancer Institute , St. Elizabeths Hospital , and Freedmen's Hospital under the direct supervision of the Surgeon General . These divisions often had overlapping scopes, which
3915-633: The New York Landmarks Conservancy estimated that with about $ 3 million of federal funding, the Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital could be stabilized for the next 15 years. According to the Conservancy, that would allow time to develop a long-term preservation plan. The present day footprint of the island is 27.5 acres (11.1 ha) as opposed to the original 3.3-acre (1.3 ha) island. Though
4050-953: The Secretary of Health and Human Services rather the Assistant Secretary for Health, eliminating PHS as an administrative level in the organizational hierarchy. Ten of the thirteen operating agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are designated as part of the Public Health Service: The other three agencies are the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services , Administration for Children and Families , and Administration for Community Living . The Public Health Service also encompasses two staff offices: The United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (PHSCC) employs more than 6,000 uniformed public health professionals for
4185-602: The United States Department of Health and Human Services . Marine Hospital Service The Marine Hospital Service was an organization of Marine Hospitals dedicated to the care of ill and disabled seamen in the United States Merchant Marine , the U.S. Coast Guard and other federal beneficiaries. The Marine Hospital Service evolved into the U.S. Public Health Service . It was the point of origin for several components of
Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital - Misplaced Pages Continue
4320-746: The military , immigrants, Native Americans , other federal beneficiaries, and people affected by chronic and epidemic diseases found a source for health care in the MHS and its hospitals. In 1899, the Marine Hospital Service first formed internal divisions: the Division of Marine Hospitals and Relief, Division of Domestic (Interstate) Quarantine, Division of Insular and Foreign Quarantine and Immigration, Division of Personnel and Accounts, Division of Sanitary Reports and Statistics, Division of Scientific Research and Sanitation, and Miscellaneous Division, although there were minor name changes after this time. In 1902,
4455-701: The 1967 Clean Air Act redirected attention to larger air quality control regions. In 1932, the Public Health Service, working with the Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama, began a study to record the natural history of syphilis in hopes of justifying treatment programs for blacks. It was titled the Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male . The study initially involved 600 black men—399 with syphilis, 201 who did not have
4590-549: The Assistant Secretary for Health in 2002. The Office of Public Health Emergency Preparedness was created in 2002, which in 2022 became the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response . The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health was created by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 . Public health worker Sara Josephine Baker , M.D. established many programs to help
4725-795: The Barge Office (a US government-owned facility), patients with contagious diseases were sent to hospitals operated by the New York City Department of Health and to Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn, which was then also called the Immigrant Hospital. The hospitals involved were called “Contract Hospitals.” On June 15, 1897, the wooden immigration station on Ellis Island was destroyed by fire. The Buffalo Evening News reported that all 40 patients were safely evacuated and taken to Bellevue Hospital . By September,
4860-631: The Corps wear uniforms similar to those of the United States Navy with special PHSCC insignia, and the Corps uses the same commissioned officer ranks as the U.S. Navy , the U.S. Coast Guard , and the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps from ensign to admiral , uniformed services pay grades O-1 through O-10 respectively. According to 5 U.S.C. § 8331 , service in the PHSCC after June 30, 1960,
4995-664: The Ellis Island Hospital held 750 beds, 450 in the Contagious Disease Hospital and 300 in the General Hospital. A "Psychopathic Ward" housed 20–30 male and female patients. Island 2 had a maternity ward to deliver the 350 children born at Ellis Island. The maternity/obstetric facilities moved as the hospital expanded, but were first located on the third floor of the Administrative Building on Island 2. The general hospital building held three separate operating rooms and even dental offices. In 1914 when
5130-483: The Health Department of New York and Long Island College Hospitals which had been caring for Ellis Island contagious disease patients since 1890. In 1903 New York announced that it wanted to terminate the agreement because the number of patients being sent to New York strained their capacity. The Bureau of Immigration considered the most practical solution was to build a third island, separated from Island 2 by
5265-539: The Islands including seven doctors, two wives and four children. There were 36 nurses residing at Ellis, 24 female,12 male. All the female nurses were single, some of the male nurses were married. There were a total of 35 doctors employed by the Public Health Service serving in 3 divisions: Boarding, Medical Inspection and Hospital. One of the Commissioned doctors was a woman. The hospital treated almost 9,000 patients
5400-642: The Line Inspection at Ellis Island which was very efficient at processing volumes of immigrants but allowed many ill immigrants to enter. The doctors at Ellis Island were able to perform “Intensive Inspections” which were much longer and more thorough at the Immigration facility. Under the new law the staff at Ellis Island was charged with a new task, inspection of Alien Merchant sailors arriving in New York. This practice started in 1926 and within
5535-569: The Marine Hospital Fund. In 1869, Dr. John Shaw Billings , a prominent Army surgeon, was appointed to head an investigation of the Marine Hospital Fund. Dr. Billings found the hospital fund to be inadequate and completely disorganized. In June 1870 the 41st Congress formally converted the loose network of locally controlled marine hospitals, the Marine Hospital Fund, into a centrally controlled Marine Hospital Service, with its headquarters in Washington, D.C. This reorganization made
Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital - Misplaced Pages Continue
5670-468: The Marine Hospital Service as its own bureau within the Department of the Treasury. The position of Supervising Surgeon (later titled the Surgeon General ) was created to administer the Service, and John Maynard Woodworth was appointed as the first incumbent in 1871. He moved quickly to reform the system and adopted a military model for his medical staff; putting his physicians in uniforms, and instituting examinations for applicants. Woodworth created
5805-671: The Marine Hospital Service have descendants that operate to the present day: Today, the records for these institutions sit in storage at the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, Maryland and the National Archives in College Park, Maryland. The hospitals themselves were, by the middle of the 19th century, fairly imposing and architecturally grand structures in many cases. As long as ample federal funding
5940-482: The Marine Hospital Service into its own bureau within the Department of the Treasury. Dr. John Maynard Woodworth was subsequently appointed to the Service as "Supervising Surgeon." He transformed the service into a disciplined organization based on his experience in the Union Army as a surgeon. Dr. Woodworth required his physicians to be a mobile work force stationed where the service was in need, and he mandated
6075-489: The Marine Hospital Service was renamed the "Public Health and Marine-Hospital Service." In 1912, as the emphasis of its responsibilities shifted from sailors to general public health, the name was changed again to the "Public Health Service" to encompass its diverse and changing mission. The Division of Hospitals, which contained the Marine Hospital system, became part of the Bureau of Medical Services in 1943, and
6210-509: The National Institutes of Health. At the time, the PHS was the premier agency involved in containing infectious diseases. History has rendered a number of these cutting-edge medical practices obsolete, even offensive. For example, now-discredited eugenic beliefs played a small role at the hospital. Henry H. Goddard established an intelligence testing program on Ellis Island in 1913. Doctors would use metal calipers to measure
6345-557: The PHS. The Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (PHSCC) is the federal uniformed service of the PHS, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States . PHS had its origins in the system of marine hospitals that originated in 1798. In 1871 these were consolidated into the Marine Hospital Service , and shortly afterwards the position of Surgeon General and the PHSCC were established. As
6480-599: The Red Cross building which had been added in 1915, adjacent to Hospital Outbuilding and the corridor to the Ferry. It was a wooden structure that was too small and, by 1934, in very poor condition. The Recreation building was the largest new structure built. Constructed between Islands 2 and 3, it housed a full scale gymnasium and auditorium complete with stage, a film projection booth, a canteen and other recreational facilities. The Surgeon's house on Island 2 which had become
6615-549: The Secretary of Labor, Francis Perkins , to convene the Ellis Island Committee. Their mission was to evaluate the state of the facilities, to assess current immigration policy and to recommend actions to solve the problems that they identified. In 1934 the Ellis Island Committee submitted a report to Secretary Perkins confirming that current facilities were in disrepair and they were not adequate to fulfill
6750-457: The U.S. Coast Guard and other U.S. government beneficiaries. This work continued until after World War II. The hospitals were closed to immigrants for the first two years of World War I because immigration had virtually ceased due to wartime conditions. In 1917 the hospitals were officially taken over by the War Department and were renamed Debarkation Hospital #1. Their wartime mission was to treat wounded soldiers returning from Europe. The hospital
6885-489: The U.S. Navy. Sailors were brought to Ellis Island as they awaited the preparation of their ships for sea. PHS nurses who were being sent to Europe also passed through Ellis Island. They received their equipment and uniforms as well as final training prior to being shipped to hospitals in Europe. Initially quartered at Ellis Island, when the hospitals began to receive military casualties, the nurses were moved to hotels in New York City. Their training continued at Ellis Island. In
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#17327755007557020-432: The US government, including the ability to enforce the laws and to deport immigrants who did not meet the requirements. The Marine Hospital Service , later renamed the US Public Health Service, was charged with administering the new immigration laws for the federal government. The original immigration station on Ellis Island opened January 1, 1892. It was built reusing several of the structures from Fort Gibson. A shellhouse
7155-408: The US in 1873, the National Quarantine Act of 1878 vested quarantine authority to the Marine Hospital Service. Under the Public Health Act of 1879 , this authority was temporarily shared with the U.S. Army and Navy through the National Board of Health , until 1883. Given the prevalence of infectious disease among immigrants arriving from famine and war areas of Europe, the Marine Hospital Service
7290-563: The United States . Woodworth created a cadre of mobile, career service physicians, who could be assigned as needed to the various Marine Hospitals. The commissioned officer corps was established by legislation in 1889, and signed by President Grover Cleveland . At first open only to physicians , over the course of the 20th century, the Corps expanded to include veterinarians , dentists , physician assistants, sanitary engineers, pharmacists , nurses , environmental health officers , scientists , and other types of health professionals . It
7425-402: The United States and Europe. Eventually, the hospital boasted 22 wards, including separate wards for men, women, children, surgery patients, and the insane. The Office Building and Laboratory is a 2.5-story structure located at the west end of island 3. It housed doctors' offices and a dispensary on the first floor, along with a laboratory and pharmacists' quarters on the second floor. In 1924,
7560-527: The United States eight uniformed services , the PHS Commissioned Corps fills public health leadership and service roles within federal government agencies and programs. The PHSCC includes officers drawn from many professions, including environmental and occupational health, medicine, nursing, dentistry, pharmacy, psychology, social work, hospital administration, health record administration, nutrition, engineering, science, veterinary, health information technology, and other health-related occupations. Officers of
7695-475: The United States in Bethesda, Maryland . Secretary of State Hillary Clinton apologized to the Republic of Guatemala for this program in 2010, in light of the serious ethical lapses in moral judgement which occurred. [REDACTED] This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain : History of the Commissioned Corps, PHS [REDACTED] This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of
7830-402: The admitting and discharge facilities, residences for nurses, single doctors, and a small operating room. New York then officially terminated its contract with the Bureau of Immigration and all patients arriving at Ellis Island were treated either in the general hospital or the contagious disease hospital. 1912 was the first full year that the hospital complex was completely open. When completed,
7965-412: The agencies within PHS was shifted from the Assistant Secretary for Health to report directly to the Secretary of Health and Human Services , eliminating PHS as an administrative level in the organizational hierarchy, although the agencies and offices are still legally designated as part of PHS. The Office of Global Affairs was formed from two components within the Office of the Secretary and Office of
8100-503: The area and New York and New Jersey went to court over this riparian rights issue. The government would not permit construction to continue until the land issue was resolved. In 1904, the courts ruled and determined that the location of the proposed Island 3 was indeed part of New York. The immigration department now had clear title and construction was resumed, By the end of 1909 island 3 and the new contagious disease hospitals were completed, but insufficient funds had been allocated to connect
8235-409: The authorization to treat beneficiaries, but because the number of immigrants was so large and because they needed to have the capacity to treat an entire ship load of sick immigrants, the PHS seldom was able to treat beneficiaries. The 1924 National Origins Act further reduced hospital demand by requiring immigrants to have a medical examinations prior to boarding for America. This reduced the need for
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#17327755007558370-490: The bacteriological quality of the water, particularly among small systems, was of concern. The 1963 Clean Air Act gave the Public Health Service in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare the authority to take abatement action against industries if it could be demonstrated that they were polluting across state lines, or if a governor requested. Some of these actions involved the Ohio River Valley, New York, and New Jersey. The service also began monitoring air pollution.
8505-429: The boundaries of the United States expanded , and harbors were built on other coasts, so too were marine hospitals. In the 1830s and 1840s they were built along inland waterways, the Great Lakes , and the Gulf of Mexico . After the acquisition of the Oregon Territory (1846) and California (1848) hospitals were built in 1850s at Pacific Coast harbors. Following the Civil War , public outcry and scandal surrounded
8640-486: The centers of islands 2 and 3. During its peak years, the hospital employed over 150 doctors, nurses, and other staff, many of whom lived in dormitories on the islands. According to the 1920 Census, 124 lived on the Islands. Red Cross workers also volunteered frequently, with a special focus on making the hospital more comfortable and enjoyable for the immigrant children. A hospital school taught children about personal hygiene, neatness, and good manners. The main building of
8775-447: The central corridor connecting the islands, (on Island 2, just south of the ferry terminal) is the Laundry Building, which was constructed in 1900–1901 along with the now-demolished surgeon's house. The structure is one and a half stories tall with a hip roof and skylights facing to the north and south. Repaired repeatedly throughout its history, the laundry-outbuilding was last restored in 2002. It had linen, laundry, and disinfecting rooms;
8910-442: The circumference of immigrants' heads, and immigrants of “superior racial stock” were often favored when entering the United States. Additionally, many immigrants were detained at Ellis Island for mental illness and placed in the hospital's psychiatric ward. Some of the contemporary clinical classifications for mental illness are now archaic: idiot , imbecile , moron , or feeble-minded . It is likely that many of these diagnoses were
9045-446: The commissioned corps of the United States Public Health Service. Nurses and all other medical personnel were employees of the PHS. The PHS doctors conducted the line inspection, the medical examination of arriving immigrants, and treated detained immigrants in the hospitals. Efforts to restore the hospital buildings and other structures on the island are being made by the Save Ellis Island Foundation. The hospital complex has been open to
9180-511: The competition. Tilton and Boring's plan called for four new structures: a main immigration processing facility in the French Renaissance style, as well as the kitchen and laundry building, main powerhouse, and the main hospital building The plan also included the creation of a new island (Island 2), upon which the hospital would be built, south of the existing island (Island 1). The Main Immigration Building and structures on Island 1 were completed and opened in December 1900. Work creating Island 2
9315-402: The contagious disease hospital comprised eight separate two-story pavilions, an administration building, and a kitchen all connected by a center and three completely separated isolation pavilions extending along the same corridor axis. The 16 measles wards, (also known as ward A-H) were built in phases from 1906 to 1909. In sequence, the two-story pavilions were arranged with four pavilions each to
9450-503: The current Public Health Service, including the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps , the National Institutes of Health , and multiple programs now incorporated into the Health Resources and Services Administration . The origins of the system of Marine Hospitals can be traced to the passage, by the 5th Congress of the United States , of " An Act for the Relief of Sick and Disabled Seamen " in 1798. This act created Marine Hospitals to care for sick seamen. The Marine Hospital Fund
9585-537: The current island's landmass was originally three separate islands, the Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital consisted of 22 buildings spread over the southern two islands. The islands were man-made, using excavated fill and concrete from the New York City Subway , as well as other building demolition spoils. The fill was retained with a system of wood piles and cribbing, and later encased with more than 7,700 linear feet of concrete and granite sea wall, placed atop either wood piles, cribbing, or submerged bags of concrete. Island 2
9720-431: The daily wear uniforms. This eventually led to the creation of the modern-day Public Health Service Commissioned Corps . Dr. Woodworth, using Army-style heraldry, created the Marine Hospital Service fouled anchor and caduceus seal which is used to this day by the Public Health Service. In 1873, Dr. Woodworth's title was changed to "Supervising Surgeon General," a forerunner of the modern-day office of Surgeon General of
9855-487: The disease. The study was conducted without the benefit of patients' informed consent. Researchers told the men they were being treated for "bad blood", a local term referring to several ailments, including syphilis, anemia, and fatigue. In truth, they did not receive the proper treatment needed to cure their illness. In exchange for taking part in the study, the men received free medical exams, free meals, and burial insurance. Although originally projected to last six months,
9990-401: The diseases. The laundry facility was equipped with a large steam-heated autoclave to sanitize mattresses. In Tuberculosis Wards, each patient room had two sinks. The higher sink was used for spitting and the lower sink was for washing. The autopsy amphitheater which contained an eight-cadaver refrigerator, became a well-known teaching hall, drawing medical observers from teaching hospitals in
10125-495: The facility had a capacity of 300 beds. Hospital No. 1 was designed as a general hospital. The PHS intended there to be a companion, separate contagious hospital, as was the practice in the civilian hospitals, such as Johns Hopkins Hospital, after which Ellis Island's hospitals were modeled, but the government would not fund a contagious hospital. With no facilities to treat infectious or contagious disease patients on site, Ellis Island maintained its contract hospital relationship with
10260-491: The first floor offices were converted into male nurses' quarters. A one-story morgue is located east of the office building, and was converted to the "Animal House" circa 1919. An L-shaped powerhouse and laundry building, built in 1908, is also located on the west side of island 3. It has a square north wing with boiler, coal, and pump rooms, as well as a rectangular south wing with laundry and disinfection rooms, staff kitchen, and staff pantry. The powerhouse and laundry also had
10395-458: The first floor; and five bedrooms, hall, and bath on the second floor." Work on these buildings was completed at the end of 1901, but they did not open until 1902 because of delays during construction. The immigrant hospital was initially staffed by the Marine Hospital Service , which became the U.S. Public Health Service PHS). It was one of the first facilities in the country to employ a full-time female physician, Rose A. Bebb. Physicians treated
10530-664: The first full year that the new law was in effect, only 137,000 immigrants were admitted through Ellis Island. Almost overnight the Hospital Complex at Ellis Island held a fraction of the number of immigrant patients it had previously. As the number of immigrants patients decreased the PHS began to use the hospital as a Marine Hospital treating beneficiaries (employees of the US Public Health Service and their families, Merchant Mariners and Coast Guardsmen) as well as immigrants. The Hospital Complex always had
10665-696: The former Cincinnati Marine Hospital building was reopened as a Field Investigation Station for water pollution research. This was the beginning of the PHS Environmental Health Divisions , a precursor to the Environmental Protection Agency . In 1914, the Office of Industrial Hygiene and Sanitation , the direct predecessor of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health ,
10800-421: The former Cincinnati Marine Hospital to the newly constructed Robert A. Taft Sanitary Engineering Center. However, the period was one of decline for the marine hospital system. In 1943, the hospital system had reached its peak of 30 hospitals. During 1944–1953, a wave of closings eliminated nine of the ten Marine Hospitals that had not been upgraded since the 1920s, as well as three newer general hospitals and
10935-504: The general hospital originally consisted of 125 beds and was eventually expanded to 300. Original concepts for the hospital included a rooftop bistro-style sitting and recreational area. With the Administration Building and Hospital Extension, the general hospital comprised four operating rooms, a women's ward, a pediatric ward, a maternity ward, and a psychiatric ward. It was equipped with two birdcage elevators. Wards were open, and had lots of windows for ventilation and natural light. Each ward
11070-653: The governmental health agency expanded. Most of the Public health activity in the United States took place at the municipal level before the mid-20th century. There was some activity at the national and state level as well. In the administration of the second president of the United States John Adams , Congress authorized the creation of hospitals for mariners through the 1798 Act for the Relief of Sick and Disabled Seamen . They were initially located along
11205-401: The hospital became fully operational, over 10,000 patients from 75 different countries were treated. The hospitals used the most advanced methods in medicine for the time. In 1912 the PHS installed a full-scale laboratory, an offshoot of their former laboratory on Staten Island. That PHS Lab, and its pioneering work on germs and germ theory, was moved to Washington, D.C. in 1891 and renamed
11340-516: The hospital treated over 275,000 patients; there were approximately 4,000 fatalities and 350 babies were born there. The immigrant hospital was run by the Marine Hospital Service , which was re-organized and expanded in 1902 and became the Public Health and Marine Hospital Service. The name was shortened in 1912 and became the United States Public Health Service (PHS). All of the doctors at Ellis Island were part of
11475-546: The hospital, is managed by the non-profit Save Ellis Island Foundation and has been off-limits to the general public since its closing in 1954. Constructed in phases, the facility encompassed both a general hospital and a separate pavilion-style contagious disease hospital. The hospital had two functions: treating immigrants who were ill upon arrival, and treating immigrants with conditions that were prohibited by immigration laws. These latter patients were stabilized and often sent back to their home countries. Between 1902 and 1951
11610-456: The hospital. In 1985, while restoration of the north side of Ellis Island was underway, Interior Secretary Donald P. Hodel convened a long-inactive federal commission to determine how the south side of Ellis Island should be used. Though the hotel proposal was dropped in 1986 for lack of funds, the NPS allowed developer William Hubbard to redevelop the south side as a convention center, though Hubbard
11745-424: The hospitals on Islands 2 and 3. A number of measles wards on Island 3 were converted to secure wards. The 1920 Census records 24 anarchists being treated in the hospitals. When President Franklin D. Roosevelt took office in 1933 Ellis Island was run by the Bureau of Immigration which was part of the Department of Labor . The facilities at Ellis Island were in such bad shape that President Roosevelt instructed
11880-436: The incidence of cross-infection contracted in hospital has not entirely ceased, it has reached such a low point (for the past year 0.63 percent of all admissions) that it is believed a description of the hospital, with special reference to the provisions to prevent the spread of disease, will be found interesting and instructive." The PHS used advanced methods in medicine as they developed. They used fluoroscopy and x-rays; there
12015-585: The island was used by the Navy to store munitions. The need for hospitals as part of the immigration process was well-established when the new Ellis Island Immigration Station opened. In the 1860s (when immigration was administered by the states), New York State sent sick immigrants from the main entrance facility at Castle Clinton in the Battery to a separate purpose-built and very effective new hospital facility. Ward's Island Emigrant Hospital, which opened in 1864
12150-407: The knowledge of contagious diseases increased, means to control them and prevent infection were soon developed. Once it became understood that these strategies would require community-wide participation, disease control began being viewed as a public responsibility. Various organizations and agencies were then created to implement these disease preventing strategies. As the U.S. expanded, the scope of
12285-525: The medical inspection line. Some immigrants had no idea what X-ray machines did; others were fearful that their clothing – or the money sewn inside its seams – would be stolen." The volume of immigrants quickly overwhelmed Hospital 1's capacity of 125 beds. As the number of immigrants increased, the number of "psychopathic" or "insane" patients grew as well. Because their entry in the US was prohibited by immigration law and because these patients needed to be housed in
12420-560: The organization. In 1968, the position of Assistant Secretary for Health was created, supplanting the Surgeon General as the top leader of the Public Health Service, although the Surgeon General was retained in a subordinate role. Also in 1968, the Food and Drug Administration , which traced its origins to 1862, became part of the PHS. The goal of the reorganizations was to coordinate the previously fragmented divisions to provide
12555-561: The poor in New York City keep their infants healthy, leading teams of nurses into the crowded neighborhoods of Hell's Kitchen and teaching mothers how to dress, feed, and bathe their babies. Another key pioneer of public health in the U.S. was Lillian Wald , who founded the Henry Street Settlement house in New York. The Visiting Nurse Service of New York was a significant organization for bringing health care to
12690-471: The product of cultural differences, language barriers, or the immigrants' anxiety about entering a new country, which made their behavior seem slow or out of the ordinary to hospital doctors. In 1913, Howard Andrew Knox developed more objective testing methods to determine with increased accuracy whether an immigrant was mentally deficient. The Knox tests were effective in that they did not require specific cultural knowledge for successful performance. In 1923,
12825-560: The public on a limited basis for hard hat tours since 2014, provided by the Save Ellis Island Foundation. Prior to being an immigration station, Ellis Island was the site of Fort Gibson, an 18th-century fort which was part of the New York Harbor defenses along with the Battery , Fort Wood on Bedloe's Island , and Fort Jay on Governors Island . By the late 19th century, Fort Gibson was obsolete and
12960-502: The purpose of delivering public health promotion and disease prevention programs, and advancing public health science. The mission of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps is to protect, promote, and advance the health and safety of the people of the United States. According to the PHSCC, this mission is achieved through rapid and effective response to public health needs, leadership and excellence in public health practices, and advancement of public health science. As one of
13095-401: The remaining parts of Ellis Island were closed and declared “excess federal property”. Despite redevelopment of Ellis Island's north side, the south side remained abandoned because of disagreements over its proposed use. The NPS held a competition for proposals to redevelop the south side in 1981. The NPS selected a plan for a conference center and a 250-to-300-room Sheraton hotel on the site of
13230-611: The rest of the Division of Scientific Research, of which it was formerly part, and in 1938 it moved to its current campus in Bethesda, Maryland . In 1939, PHS as a whole was transferred from the Department of the Treasury into the new Federal Security Agency . In 1942, the Office of Malaria Control in War Areas was created, which in 1946 became the Communicable Disease Center, which would eventually become
13365-527: The same time, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health was created out of the former Division of Industrial Hygiene by the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 . HSMHA was broken up into four successor agencies in 1973. Since 1973, PHS has encompassed between six and ten operating agencies anchored by NIH, FDA, and CDC. The organizational changes in the 20th century after 1973 have been: The PHS hospital system had been
13500-416: The spring of 1919 the hospital complex was returned to the Bureau of Immigration and the Public Health Service and was renamed Marine Hospital #43. Immigrants were once again processed at Ellis Island. By 1920 the number of immigrants arriving returned very close to prewar levels and the hospitals were treating similar numbers of patients. According to the 1920 US Census, there were 124 PHS employees living on
13635-487: The structures were completed in 1911. The three isolation wards were located along the axis of the corridor but beyond the limits of its enclosure. Each contained two separate wards. The power house/sterilizer/autopsy theater, mortuary, laboratory/pharmacy building were located at the southwest end of the connecting corridor and the Staff House at the Northeast end. The kitchen building and Administrative building, which also
13770-400: The study actually went on for 40 years. Penicillin —which can be used to treat syphilis—was discovered in the 1940s. However, the study continued and treatment was never given to the subjects. Because of this, it has been called "arguably the most 'infamous' biomedical research study in U.S. history". A USPHS physician who took part in the 1932–1972 Tuskegee program, John Charles Cutler ,
13905-422: The system's scope grew to include quarantine authority and research, it was renamed the Public Health Service in 1912. A series of reorganizations in 1966–1973 began a shift where PHS' divisions were promoted into departmental operating agencies. PHS was established as a thin layer of hierarchy above them rather than an operating agency in its own right. In 1995, PHS agencies were shifted to report directly to
14040-567: The target of efforts to close the entire system since the mid-1970s. As the result of pressure from the Reagan administration , the PHS hospital system was abolished in 1981, with the last eight hospitals transferred to other organizations: five to non-governmental entities, two to the Department of Defense , and one to the State of Louisiana . PHS would however continue to operate the National Leprosarium until 1999. In 1995, supervision of
14175-461: The tax was abolished and in 1906 funds were dispensed by Congress.) The act led to the gradual creation of a network of hospitals along coastal and inland waterways. They were initially located along the East Coast , at the harbors of the major port cities, with Boston being the site of the first such facility, followed later by others including in the Baltimore vicinity at Curtis Bay . As
14310-401: The terms of their admission either by becoming Public Charges, committing crimes or being identified as political dissidents – anarchists principally. These immigrants were called Warrant Cases and were shipped to Ellis Island via Jersey City on Deportation Trains. They were mostly held in secure areas of the main building on Island 1 awaiting deportation. If they were ill, they were taken to
14445-432: The therapeutic and recreational needs of the patients. The Roosevelt Administration acted on many of the recommendations. The projects that were completed on Islands 2 and 3 included: Completing and landscaping the infill of the area between Islands 2 and 3, for recreational and therapeutic use; adding a recreation shelter for the new lawn space; and construction of a Recreation Building. The Recreation Building replaced
14580-505: The treasury's supervising architect , James Knox Taylor , opened an architecture competition to rebuild the immigration station. The competition was the second to be conducted under the Tarsney Act of 1893, which had permitted private architects to design federal buildings, rather than government architects in the supervising architect's office. By December, it was announced that Edward Lippincott Tilton and William A. Boring had won
14715-553: The tuberculosis sanatorium at Fort Stanton . However, PHS funded construction of hospitals by the states through the 1946 Hill–Burton Act . In 1953 the Federal Security Agency was abolished and most of its functions, including the PHS, were transferred to the newly formed Department of Health, Education and Welfare . In 1955 the Division of Indian Health was established upon transfer of these functions from
14850-472: The urban poor. In the area of environmental protection and public health, a Public Health Service 1969 community water survey that looked at more than a thousand drinking water systems across the United States drew two important conclusions that supported a growing demand for stronger protections that were adopted in the 1974 Safe Drinking Water Act . The survey concluded, first, that the state supervision programs were very uneven and often lax, and, second, that
14985-420: The utilities and purchase furniture and equipment for the facility. Congressional authorization for the required funds was not achieved until 1911 and the hospitals opened later that year. The Island 3 buildings included eight two-story-pavilions designated for measles patients, three isolation wards, a morgue and autopsy building, a medical office building; and a three-story administrative building that contained
15120-579: The well-being of these sailors, the hospitals provided a key monitoring and gate-keeping function against pathogenic diseases. As immigration increased dramatically in the late 19th century, the Federal Government also took over the processing of immigrants from the individual states, beginning in 1891 . The Marine Hospital Service was assigned the responsibility for the medical inspection of arriving immigrants at sites such as Ellis Island in New York Harbor . Commissioned officers played
15255-433: The west and east of island 3's administration building and the kitchen building. Wards A, B, E and F were located south of the connection corridor; wards C, D, G, H, to the north of corridor. Each of these pavilions held all the necessary service spaces to function independently, and each ward could be sealed off in order to prevent cross-contamination, the principal cause of death prior to the invention of antibiotics . Most of
15390-409: Was "likely to become a public charge" (LPC), effectively denying entrance to prospective immigrants who could not demonstrate their ability to work and would require government assistance to survive. The law also barred immigrants who were convicts, those convicted of political offenses or who were "idiots, psychopathics, or afflicted with a loathsome infectious or contagious disease". It also established
15525-444: Was a time of expansion for both NIH and the PHS environmental health programs. In 1948, NIH's name was changed to the plural National Institutes of Health, and by the end of 1950 six new institutes had been created within it. The environmental health programs expanded from water pollution into air, industrial, and chemical pollution and radiological health research during and after World War II, and in 1954 they moved across town from
15660-640: Was added to the Tuberculosis wards. Much of the extant structures seen today are the result of these renovations. The work was performed between 1934 and by the end of 1936 by two New Deal programs within the Department of Labor: the Public Works Administration and the New Deal of the Works Progress Administration . The conversion of the wards and other work was also done by these two agencies. In 1954,
15795-535: Was also provided with a south-facing porch for fresh air, and activity. The operating rooms were located on the third floor and had skylights in order to provide the best lighting possible. Supplemental lighting was provided via I.P. Frink . The structures on Island 2 shared the same design as the original facilities on island 1: a brick facade in Flemish bond, quoins , and limestone ornamentation. All structures were internally connected via covered passageways. Along
15930-411: Was an autoclave that could sterilize four mattresses at a time. For many immigrants, new medical equipment was unfamiliar and scary. According to one New York Times article, "those less fortunate had to submit to physical inspections that required stripping off all of one’s clothing – an entirely foreign concept, particularly to many immigrant women. This is why there were female physicians stationed on
16065-552: Was assigned to medically inspect immigrants at such sites as Ellis Island in New York Harbor . In 1878, an act of Congress enabled the Marine Hospital Service to collect data on communicable diseases and perform surveillance of the incidence and distribution of diseases; these programs would eventually become the National Center for Health Statistics . In 1887, the Hygienic Laboratory, the predecessor of
16200-503: Was available for their construction, these hospitals were impressive examples of government-provided health care. The hospitals of the early 20th century in major port cities such as New Orleans , San Francisco , and Savannah displayed ornate architectural detail and reflected many of the changes sweeping medicine at the time. In addition to the major hospitals, many lower-class hospitals and clinics existed. A chronological gallery of hospitals constructed prior to 1912 follow, showing
16335-421: Was completed in 1898. Work then started on the hospital and other buildings. The new hospital (Hospital Building No. 1) was built between February 1900 and March 1901 and included an outbuilding and a surgeon's house. "The hospital outbuilding included a laundry, linen room, and autopsy room. The surgeon’s house was designed and constructed with a basement; a parlor, kitchen, pantry, dining room, library, and hall on
16470-529: Was constructed in the pavilion style, a hygienic layout promoted by Florence Nightingale in her Notes On Hospitals and hailed by the New York Times as the exemplar of a modern hospital. As the number of immigrants increased, it was decided that the US government had to take control of immigration. In 1882 the US government passed the Immigration Act of 1882 . It excluded any immigrant who
16605-400: Was converted into a hospital for the insane, the gunners quarters became the surgeon's house, a shellhouse became a dining hall and another shellhouse became a detention facility for immigrants awaiting deportation. A 40-bed hospital was constructed from "a series of wooden structures surrounding a garden". In 1890 when the US government and the State of New York processed immigrants jointly at
16740-431: Was created in 1899, and island 3 in 1906. The second ferry basin between islands 2 and 3 was infilled in the 1920s to create the great lawn. It was started by building the concrete and granite seawall to connect the tip of islands 2 and 3. The basin was subsequently filled to create the lawn. A central corridor runs southward from the ferry building on the west side of the island. Two additional corridors split eastward down
16875-473: Was dormitory for the nurses, were located in the center of the corridor. All structures were designed by James Knox Taylor in the Italian Renaissance style and are distinguished by red-tiled hip roofs, exposed rafter tails, roughcast or pebble dashed walls of stucco , and ornamentation of brick and limestone. Several design features of the hospital were specifically intended to help contain
17010-558: Was eventually renamed as a different Bureau of Medical Services within the Health Services Administration in 1973. Large new buildings were constructed for many Marine Hospitals in the 1920s and 1930s, and the system reached its peak of 30 hospitals in 1943. A wave of closings in 1944–1953 mainly targeted hospitals that had not been upgraded, and another wave during 1965–1970 closed the remaining hospitals at inland locations, leaving eight general hospitals and
17145-643: Was founded at the Pittsburgh Marine Hospital . Both of these offices were within the Division of Scientific Research. The Division of Venereal Diseases was established in 1918, and the Narcotics Division in 1929 (it eventually became the National Institute of Mental Health ). In 1930, the Hygienic Laboratory was redesignated as the (singular) National Institute of Health (NIH) by the Ransdell Act ; in 1937, it absorbed
17280-552: Was in charge of the U.S. government's syphilis experiments in Guatemala , in which in the Central American Republic of Guatemala , Guatemalan prisoners, soldiers, orphaned children, and others were deliberately infected with syphilis and other sexually-transmitted diseases from 1946 to 1948, in order to scientifically study the disease, in a project funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health of
17415-477: Was less desirable than a series of several small pavilions, where various diseases could be treated in isolation from other wards." The island measured 4.75 acres (1.92 ha). The ferry basin was later infilled. The area chosen was between Island 2 and Liberty Island and adjacent to the Jersey City waterfront area known locally as Black Tom. Infill and construction was started but New Jersey claimed title to
17550-551: Was normal procedure at United States harbors, with quarantine originally a function of the individual states, rather than of the Federal Government. The National Quarantine Act of 1878 vested quarantine authority to the Marine Hospital Service. However, the Public Health Act of 1879 created the National Board of Health , through which quarantine authority was shared with the U.S. Army and Navy; this arrangement
17685-552: Was not able to find investors. The south side was proposed for possible future development even through the late 1990s. In 1996, the World Monuments Fund listed the hospital as one of the world's 100 Most Endangered Properties, a warning echoed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation , which put the buildings on the list of “most endangered historical places in the United States.” A study conducted by
17820-426: Was not reauthorized by Congress in 1883, and its powers reverted solely to the Marine Hospital Service. Over the next half a century, the Marine Hospital Service increasingly took over quarantine functions from individual state authorities. The Marine Hospitals, as their name suggests, were hospitals constructed at key sea and river ports across the nation to provide health care for merchant marine sailors. Aside from
17955-423: Was placed under the Revenue Marine Service (a forerunner of the present-day Coast Guard ) within the Department of the Treasury . It was the first federal health law. It authorized a tax, which was the deduction of twenty cents per month from the wages of the seamen. This tax raised funds for physicians and to support the network of hospitals. The tax was about 1% of the wages of maritime sailors. (In 1884,
18090-513: Was seen as administratively unwieldy. Additionally, some of these had been created and specified through several pieces of legislation that were inconsistent in their scope, while some had been created internally by PHS or delegated from the parent Federal Security Agency. In 1943, PHS's divisions were collected into three operating agencies by law (57 Stat. 587 ). The Bureau of State Services administered cooperative services to U.S. states through technical and financial assistance,
18225-607: Was used to near capacity maintaining the same number of medical staff as it had prior to the War. The medical staff were all still commissioned officers in the PHS, but the facility was run by the War Department. The few immigrants who arrived were treated under contracts by hospitals in New York City. Early in the US involvement in World War I the main facility at Ellis Island was used as an equipping and embarkation facility for
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