Montefiore Mount Vernon Hospital is an 1890s-founded hospital that had been "designated a total-care trauma facility since 1984." In 1986 they expanded and added "a new 20-bed psychiatric unit and a rehabilitation unit."[2] The hospital also formed an AIDS program.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9]
The Mount Vernon hospital changed its name to Montefiore Mount Vernon Hospital when it was taken over by Montefiore Health Systems.[10][1]
History
The cornerstone for Mount Vernon Hospital was laid in 1893.[11]
The hospital was located in Mount Vernon's downtown area, which is "only about a mile square and densely built." It was described in 1986
as "a major institution;"[2] in 1996 it was described as "a financially distressed institution."[12]
They had already begun to specialize in healing chronic wound cases in 1989.[13] In 1996 they affiliated with another hospital and specialized more, including focused services for mental-health patients.[12] They already had experience at working with other hospitals, such as offering a program for local diabetics, aided by a larger Bronx-based teaching hospital.[14] In 1999 they closed their maternity unit, and redirected expecting mothers to an affiliated hospital that tripled the capacity of "its neonatal and maternity wing."[15]
They were a flagship "to prevent the spread of infectious diseases within hospitals and within the community." Part of this included reaching out to young children with a 'pledge' to wash their hands.[16]
