Yale-New Haven Hospital and the Hospital of Saint Raphael, 1960s to the Present

Yale-New Haven Medical Center, 1958

"The Yale School of Medicine and the Grace-New Haven Community Hospital will expand their affiliated activities under a new program to be known as the 'Yale-New Haven Medical Center.' Both the School and the Hospital will retain their independent corporate structures but will embark on a joint development plan for care of patients and for medical research and teaching, thus providing southern New England with a major medical center similar in concept to the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City."

Yale Alumni Magazine, May 1954

The longtime partnership between Grace-New Haven Community Hospital and the Yale School of Medicine began a new era when the Yale-New Haven Medical Center, Incorporated (YNHMC, Inc.) formed in October 1958 for the purpose of long-range planning and the development of joint activities and fundraising for the School of Medicine, the Hospital, and later, the School of Nursing.

The photograph shows Dr. Vernon W. Lippard, Dean of the School of Medicine, and Dr. Albert W. Snoke, Director of the Hospital, two of the original incorporators of The Yale-New Haven Medical Center, Inc.

Yale-New Haven Hospital Archives

Yale-New Haven Hospital, 1965

On March 22, 1965, a new affiliation agreement between Yale University and Grace-New Haven Community Hospital resulted in a Hospital name change to Yale-New Haven Hospital. An important feature of the agreement was the consolidation of Hospital and Medical School clinical departments under a single chief of service /chairman. Single departments of Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pediatrics, and Surgery were created, each headed by a single chief who was also a full-time professor of the Medical School. Other significant points of this agreement were the granting of privileges to Yale University to nominate up to one-third of the members of the Hospital Board of Directors. As a major milestone in the relationship between the two long-time partners, the 1965 agreement also represented recognition of the community service and patient service responsibilities of the university teaching hospital and careful preservation of the role and responsibility of the community physicians.

Yale-New Haven Hospital Archives

Yale-New Haven Hospital Auxiliary

Since its founding, the Auxiliary has been known over the years as the "Ladies Auxiliary, the "Grace-New Haven Community Hospital Women's Auxiliary," and the "Community Associates." While the names of the organization and members have changed, the Auxiliary's mission has never wavered. Founded under the guidance of Dr. Albert W. Snoke, the Auxiliary has served to support the Hospital, allocating funds for special projects, staffing Hospital volunteer activities, and contributing to community outreach. In addition to funding equipment and facilities improvement projects, the Auxiliary’s initiatives have included the filming of "Johnny Goes to the Hospital" intended to take some of the mystery and anxiety out of hospitalization for young patients. In recent years, the Auxiliary has revised and renamed the program, "Jamie Goes to the Hospital." The photograph is from "Johnny Goes to the Hospital." The Johnny doll is on the right and a nurse doll is on the left.

Yale-New Haven Hospital Archives

Yale-New Hospital Turns 150 Years Old in 1976

"More than 500 persons celebrated the Hospital’s 150 years of service on May 26, 1976 in a crowded ballroom of the Park Plaza Hotel. Mayor Frank Logue brought greetings from the city of New Haven, while Sr. Louise Anthony, Administrator of the Hospital of Saint Raphael, played a musical tribute on her harmonica. Dr. Theodore Cooper, Assistant Secretary for Health of the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, was the featured speaker and pointed to the fact that Yale-New Haven Hospital is 'way ahead of most of the nation.'"

Yale-New Haven News

The Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital, 1993

On June 25, 1993 the Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital was dedicated as the first full-service children’s hospital in Connecticut, including the first children’s emergency department. With 201 beds, the Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital is the state’s largest and most comprehensive children’s hospital. Respiratory diseases, cancer, and child psychiatry are just some of the more than 20 pediatric subspecialties offered. Special facilities and services are provided to help children deal with the potential stress of hospitalization, including visits from the Big Apple Circus Clown Care Unit®. As the primary teaching hospital for the Yale Schools of Medicine and Nursing, the Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital continues a long tradition of pioneering pediatric medicine, maternity services and family-centered care.

Photo courtesy of Rob Lisak.
Yale-New Haven Hospital Archives

Community Service: "Now I Know Better"

Yale-New Haven Hospital has a long tradition of service to the community, and was one of the first hospitals in Connecticut to establish a Community and Government Relations Department in 1984. YNHH works to improve access to care, promote health education, and serve as a public health advocate, while taking a leadership role in the community on important health related issues including substance abuse, homelessness, AIDS education, accident prevention, lead poisoning, domestic abuse, and teen pregnancy. Schools and youth groups are two areas of particular focus and one of the most popular outreach activities has been the Now I Know Better: Kids Tell Kids About Safety books, videos and programs, in which children narrate their own accident experiences and tell about the safety lessons they learned.

Yale-New Haven Hospital Archives

Yale-New Haven Hospital Today

Approaching the 175th anniversary of its founding, Yale-New Haven Hospital is a 900-bed private, nonprofit facility that ranks among the premier academic medical center hospitals in the nation. Yale-New Haven is the largest acute care provider in southern Connecticut and one of the Northeast’s major referral centers. Taking into account nearby outpatient and primary care facilities, Yale-New Haven Hospital covers 1.9 million square feet and employs 6,000 people.

Yale-New Haven Hospital Archives

Yale New Haven Health System

As the parent corporation of Yale-New Haven Hospital, Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital, Bridgeport Hospital, and Greenwich Hospital, and through affiliations with Norwalk Hospital and the Westerly Hospital (RI), Yale New Haven Health is the state’s largest and most comprehensive integrated health care delivery system with nearly 11,000 employees, 69,000 admissions and $1 billion in annual revenues. It serves Connecticut and Southern New England with a broad array of high-quality, comprehensive health care services ranging from primary and preventative care to sub-acute, rehabilitation, long-term and home care.

Hospital of Saint Raphael

Round-the-Clock-Care at Saint Raphael's

Specialized care units began as a response to both emerging technology and the shortage of nurses for private duty. Beginning in 1960, Saint Raphael's opened an intensive care unit, a coronary care unit, a psychiatric unit and an expanded surgery and emergency medicine facilities.

The first Surgical Intensive Care Unit, pictured here, opened on March 19, 1963. Its function, as stated by Hospital Administrator, Sister Louise Anthony was to "provide round-the-clock, highly specialized nursing care previously available only through private duty nurses."

Sister Anne Virginie Archives Center, Saint Raphael Healthcare system

Affiliation of the Hospital of Saint Raphael with Yale School of Medicine

By 1960, many Saint Raphael physicians realized that the hospital needed to affiliate with a major medical school to maintain its status as a world class facility and to attract interns and residents. Although some rotations were in place and many Saint Raphael physicians were on the faculty at the Yale School of Medicine, the affiliation agreement took years to work out. Fears of disappearing under the Yale umbrella proliferate in the minutes of the medical staff. Dr. Donald Dock was one of the physicians who persevered in this struggle and finally in 1972 the documents were signed. Affiliation became a reality and joint rotations are enjoyed by many residents today.

Photograph of Dr. Dock with students. Letter from Sister Louise announcing the signing.

Donald Dock, M.D. papers. RG420-H31. Sister Anne Virginie Archives Center, Saint Raphael Healthcare system

Saint Regis Health Center, Dedicated in 1988

Sister Anne Virginie Archives Center, Saint Raphael Healthcare system

Father Michael McGivney Center for Cancer Care, Ambulatory/Surgical Facility, Expanded Emergency Department, New Same Day Surgery Area and More

In 1994, the Center for Cancer Care opened, and in 1999 a new ambulatory/surgical facility and expanded emergency department replaced the aging Saint Joseph pavilion on Orchard Street. Saint Raphael's continually marries symbols of its continuing values with new technology. Windows from the original chapel were recommisioned and installed in the ambulatory/surgical building as well as in the main entrance of the Hospital of Saint Raphael.

The photographs show (1) A patient in treatment room at Father Mcgiveney Center for Cancer Care; (2) the old chapel; and (3) Sister Anne unveiling restored chapel windows in the new entrance to Saint Raphael's

Sister Anne Virginie Archives Center, Saint Raphael Healthcare system

The Legacy Continues

As Saint Raphael's approaches its 100th anniversary, its commitment to excellence and this community continues. Our founders would be proud that Saint Raphael's is nationally recognized for its cardiac and orthopedic services. It is also the preferred provider of comprehensive care for the region's elderly. Yet the accolades of which Saint Raphael's is most proud are for other reasons. As important as technologically-sophisticated care is how it is delivered. Saint Raphael 's has earned the enviable reputation for compassionate care that respects each person's dignity, consistent with the values and beliefs of the Sisters of Charity.

Saint Raphael is proud of its pioneering clinical work but also remembers the meaning of the name Saint Raphael and the sentiment in Ecclesiastics that ultimately "all healing is from God."

Postcard: Entrance to the Hospital of Saint Raphael. Photograph: Nurse with patient.
Sister Anne Virginie Archives Center, Saint Raphael Healthcare system