Mount Sinai Hospital dedicated as the Jews' Hospital in New York

Background. The hospital was supported by Jewish benefactors from New York, and one of its main goals was to treat poor Jewish patients. It provided training for Jewish interns and residents and long-term hospital privileges for Jewish physicians. Such institutions mattered because many Christian-run hospitals were reluctant to hire Jewish doctors, making Jewish hospitals important for the community.

Early Operations. The hospital opened on 17 May 1855 with 45 beds on West 28th Street in Manhattan, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues. In 1856, its first full year of operation, it recorded 216 admissions, with five surgeons and physicians on staff and six more holding consulting positions.

Community Role. Mount Sinai was not the only Jewish hospital in New York; Beth Israel Hospital also operated on the Lower East Side. For many years Mount Sinai's staff was disproportionately Jewish, in part because Christian-run hospitals were reluctant to hire Jewish doctors. Among Jewish hospitals in the United States, Mount Sinai became the most preeminent in clinical and research terms, attracting leading Jewish medical school graduates from around the country.