For over 125 years, Ellis has continued to grow to meet the health needs of our community.
We’ve evolved as the science of medicine and medical technologies advanced with breakthrough after breakthrough. Today, we’re leading the efforts to reinvent healthcare, developing new protocols and setting new standards for care that serve as models for other hospitals around the state and nation.
Created to serve a community of inventors and innovators
During its growth from a riverfront town on the Erie Canal to a railroad center and later an industrial city, Schenectady attracted educated, forward thinking individuals. Since 1885, the foundations of Ellis Medicine provided healthcare to this vibrant and growing community of inventors, academics, engineers and entrepreneurs. Ellis joined in the lively spirit of invention and innovation, helping its leaders to re-imagine the world and usher in a new era of healthcare.
Today, Ellis Medicine encompasses three main campuses and five additional service locations. Continued modernization projects include a new, state-of-the-art Emergency Department and expanded parking facility at Ellis Hospital and a major addition to the Bellevue Woman’s Center. These are just a few of the ongoing efforts to streamline and improve healthcare for every patient we serve.
Founded on three great healthcare traditions
Formed in response to recent New York State healthcare reform laws, Ellis Medicine combines the traditions of Ellis Hospital, the former Bellevue Woman's Hospital and the former St. Clare's Hospital into a stronger, unified organization.
Indeed, the legacies of the former Bellevue Woman's Hospital and the former St. Clare's Hospital are now an inextricable part of Ellis Medicine's history. Click on the links at the top of this page to learn more about the histories and unique contributions of these three traditions.
To learn more about Ellis Medicine, please call 1.888.EllisInfo (1.888.355.4746).
The History of Ellis Hospital
Historical information is derived from Larry Hart's book, Hospital on the Hill.
From the start, the history of Ellis has been one of continued expansion and progress to meet community health needs. The Schenectady Free Dispensary, the forerunner of Ellis Hospital, opened in a two story building at 408 Union Street on Christmas Day in 1885. The five bed ward served as the city's first medical facility, motivated by a small group of concerned citizens following the death of an Erie Canal barge tender. Eight years later, a new 30-bed hospital opened on Jay Street, established through the charitable support of the community and Charles G. Ellis, president of Schenectady Locomotive Works. In 1893, a hospital school was also established offering a three year course in professional nursing, the forerunner to the Ellis Hospital School of Nursing.
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. Three major expansion took place in 1959, 1965 and 1972. 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 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.
In a remarkably short period between November 2007 and June 2008, in the wake of New York State healthcare reform laws, the services of Ellis Hospital and the former Bellevue Woman's Hospital and the former St. Clare's Hospital were joined to create Ellis Medicine, a single, unified healthcare organization. Today, Ellis continues to expand and grow to meet everchanging community needs (click here to learn more about current projects).
To learn more about Ellis Medicine, please call 1.888.EllisInfo (1.888.355.4746).
The History of St. Clare's Hospital
A Catholic hospital had been a hope for the people of Schenectady since 1917, but for one reason or another, support for the hospital never gained momentum.
In 1942, Schenectady’s growing industrial strength and related population boom seemed to indicate the time was right. Seven years passed before the dream was realized. World War II was fought and won and two fund drives launched before St. Clare's Hospital opened its doors.
The hospital operated from Sept. 1, 1949 until June 16, 2008, when it officially surrendered its license and Catholic identity due to insurmountable financial pressures.
Today, the site of the former St. Clare's Hospital is called the Ellis Health Center.
To learn more about Ellis Medicine, please call 1.888.EllisInfo (1.888.355.4746).
The History of Bellevue Woman's Hospital
Bellevue Woman's Center was founded as Bellevue Woman's Hospital in 1931 by Mary Grace Jorgensen, a 28 year old nurse, mother of three and a pioneer who wanted to meet the special needs of women, their babies and families. Bellevue Woman's Center exists today as a symbol of dedication to women's health needs.
History runs deep at Bellevue - it began as the one of the first hospitals to import mammography technology and played host to numerous medical pioneers: such as Dr. Virginia Apgar, who designed and introduced the Apgar score for newborns and Dr. T. Berry Brazelton, a renowned child development specialist. At a time when women had home births, the hospital was a one-of-a-kind institution.
Bellevue converted from being privately owned to not-for-profit in November 2001. Five years later, Ellis Medicine assumed responsibility for these services when Bellevue Woman’s Hospital surrendered its license in the wake of state healthcare reform mandates.
To learn more about Ellis Medicine, please call 1.888.EllisInfo (1.888.355.4746).
