Hoboken University Medical Center
Encyclopedia
Founding as St. Mary Hospital
This facility was founded as St. Mary Hospital, which was opened on January 8, 1863 in Hoboken as a community hospitalCommunity hospital
A Community hospital can be purely a nominal designation or have a more specific meaning. Specific mention of Community hospitals is encountered in the following countries:-- Thailand :...
by the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor
Franciscan Sisters of the Poor
The Franciscan Sisters of the Poor are a religious congregation which was established in 1959 as an independent branch from the Congregation of the Poor Sisters of St. Francis, founded in Germany by Blessed Frances Schervier in 1845....
, an international and multi-cultural religious congregation founded in 1845 in Germany. The hospital was opened during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
as a location to treat the returning wounded and was the second hospital ever to open in the State of New Jersey. The Sisters purchased five lots at Fourth and Willow Streets for this purpose. The money to pay for the land was raised though donations. The Stevens family, through the efforts of Martha Bayard Stevens, donated additional land and endowed a St. Martha's Ward to the new hospital.
New York City mayor treated
One of St. Mary's more interesting patients was New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
Mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
William Jay Gaynor
William Jay Gaynor
William Jay Gaynor was an American politician from New York City, associated with the Tammany Hall political machine. He served as mayor of the City of New York from 1910 to 1913, as well as stints as a New York Supreme Court Justice from 1893 to 1909.-Early life:Gaynor was born in Oriskany, New...
, who was shot on August 9, 1910 as he boarded the SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse at the Hoboken piers. The assailant was James J. Gallagher, who had been fired from his job in the New York City Docks Department and blamed the mayor for his troubles. Gaynor was rushed to St. Mary Hospital, where he stayed for over three weeks in critical condition.
In war, peace, and TB
When America entered World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
in 1917, the United States government took over the operation of St. Mary Hospital. Since Hoboken was the main port of embarkation for the nearly two million soldiers, the hospital became known as "Embarkation Hospital Number One." After the war, the Army returned the hospital to the Franciscan Sisters. During the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, the Sisters opened a soup kitchen
Soup kitchen
A soup kitchen, a bread line, or a meal center is a place where food is offered to the hungry for free or at a reasonably low price. Frequently located in lower-income neighborhoods, they are often staffed by volunteer organizations, such as church groups or community groups...
that fed 200 to 300 people twice a day. This facility remained open for many years. In 1927, St. Mary opened one of the first tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
(TB) clinics in the State.
Bon Secours Health Care System
After nearly 140 years of operation, St. Mary Hospital was sold to the Bon Secours Charity Health SystemBon Secours Charity Health System
The Bon Secours Charity Health System, part of the Bon Secours Health System, was established from a partnership between the Sisters of Bon Secours and the Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth of Convent Station, New Jersey. The system includes: Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern, New York, Bon...
in 2000. That following year, Bon Secours formed a partnership with Canterbury Health, a company that owned the Episcopalian
Episcopal Church (United States)
The Episcopal Church is a mainline Anglican Christian church found mainly in the United States , but also in Honduras, Taiwan, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and parts of Europe...
-affiliated Christ Hospital in Jersey City
Jersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City is the seat of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States.Part of the New York metropolitan area, Jersey City lies between the Hudson River and Upper New York Bay across from Lower Manhattan and the Hackensack River and Newark Bay...
at the time. The union ended on December 31, 2004, however, after Canterbury claimed that Bon Secours had not disclosed the true financial health of St. Francis Hospital in Jersey City (which had also been founded by the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor in 1864 and had been sold to the Bon Secours System as the same time) as well as that of St. Mary.