History of Ellis Hospital

Historical information is derived from Larry Hart's book, Hospital on the Hill.

Ellis history began on Christmas Day in 1885 when the Schenectady Free Dispensary, the forerunner of Ellis Hospital, was opened in a two story building at 408 Union Street. The five bed ward served as the city's first medical facility, at a time when the population topped 13,000 and was in dire need of an infirmary. Community spirit motivated a small group of concerned citizens to lay plans for the Schenectady Free Dispensary following the death of an Erie Canal barge tender.

Eight years later, on March 27, 1893, a new hospital, with 30 beds and ambulance service provided by a horse drawn vehicle, opened on Jay Street where Schenectady City Hall now stands. The new hospital was established through the charitable support of the community, along with the help of Charles G. Ellis, president of Schenectady Locomotive Works. When he died in 1891, Charles Ellis left a $25,000 bequest for the establishment of a hospital in memory of his father, John Ellis, the founder Schenectady Locomotive Works.

In 1893, a hospital school was also established offering a three year course in professional nursing. That school was the forerunner to the Ellis Hospital School of Nursing, which today is located on the Belanger Campus on Erie Boulevard in Schenectady.

From the start, the history of Ellis has been one of continued expansion and progress to meet community needs. A new 60 bed hospital opened on October 16, 1906 "out in the country," at Nott Street and Rosa Road. A 40 bed wing was added in 1908 and the construction of a 75 bed wing was completed in 1915. The Ellis Hospital Pathological Laboratory was established in 1917, and a three-story B-wing was completed in 1939. On August 12, 1940, the first blood bank east of Chicago was established at Ellis. In 1943, Ellis became affiliated with American Medical College for the training of senior medical students. This affiliation was expanded in 1957 for the training of house physicians and post graduate medical education.

Over the next four decades, Ellis experienced rapid technological and physical growth. In 1959, the fifth and sixth floors were added to the B-wing, where ten modern operating suites and a recovery room were located. Construction of the H-wing [today called the C-wing] was completed in 1965 at the corner of Nott Street and Rosa Road, which provided an expanded emergency room, an admitting and discharge lobby, and a cardiac care unit. By 1972, the Intensive Care Unit on H-6 and the Surgical Unit on H-5 were completed. The CT scan was introduced in 1976 followed by the opening of the A-wing in 1977 and the MacDonald Oncology Unit in 1980. During 1980, Ellis opened a cardiac catheterization laboratory, kidney dialysis center, birthing unit and a sports medicine center.

The first open heart surgery was performed at Ellis in 1991. The Warren & Pauline Bruggeman Center for Diagnosis & Treatment was established in 1998. In 2002, renovations to an expanded emergency department at Ellis were completed, marking the opening of the new Golub Center for Emergency Services. The 36 bed, two-story Beulah T. Hinkle Intensive Care Unit opened in June 2006 in the hospitals new E wing.

Building upon the benevolence of the people and a commitment to superior health care, Ellis Hospital has continued to flourish through the years. Today, Ellis Hospital is planning for a new expansion as it works to effectively reconfigure hospital care having recently combined the traditions of the former Bellevue Woman's Hospital and the former St. Clare's Hospital into a single, unified organization.