In 1938 an agreement was reached with the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons whereby house officers of the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary could take a basic science course at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. House officers who availed themselves of this privilege became eligible to receive a degree from Columbia University, as well as a diploma from the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary.

       In 1940 all phases of expansion of the Infirmary were halted because of World War II. Intern quarters were changed to semiprivate rooms, and house officers' accommodations were moved to a residence on 14th Street.

       In 1943 a new building was constructed in the courtyard to house the X-ray Department, the Bronchoscopy Department, and the Department of Research.

       The patients treated since the opening of the Infirmary on August 14, 1820, represent all the nations of the Earth, white and black, free man and slave, veterans of the American Revolution, soldiers of the Duke of Wellington and Napoleon who crossed the sea, widows and orphans, all who have sought aid and have been administered to. ²⁰

       In 1943, 132 staff physicians were in the Armed Forces, causing a shortage of staff. Therefore the entire teaching program of the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary was placed under the guidance of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University. Dr. J. Morisset Smith, the Executive Surgeon Director, was given the title of Professor of Otolaryngology and Executive Director of the Department.

       The postwar years brought continued growth at the Infirmary. The clinics flourished, and the staff greatly expanded. In 1968 the North Building was dedicated, and the South Building was renovated. The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary at that time contained 207 beds and 10 operating rooms.

       Since its founding in 1829, the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary never closed its doors, except for 3 months in 1822 during an epidemic of yellow fever, when all who could fled to the northern section of the city (Greenwich Village).

       The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary is recognized as the oldest continuously existing specialty hospital in the western hemisphere. Its staff physicians were involved with nearly all ophthalmology and otolaryngology advances and organizations in New York City.

       The New York Laryngological Society, the first of its kind in America, was founded October 13, 1873, by several physicians of the New York Eye & Ear Infirmary and others. To this date Infirmary physicians have been represented significantly. The New York Laryngological Society was the father society to the American Laryngological Society, which was founded in 1878. ²⁰

       Arhur Duel (of facial nerve surgery fame) was one of the leaders at the New York Academy of Medicine and chaired the Otolaryngology Section at the turn of the century. He was influential in acquiring the site of, and in the construction of, the New York Academy of Medicine building on 103rd Street. He was a consultant at the New York Eye & Ear Infirmary.

       The New York Otologic Society was founded on May 17, 1892. One of the founding physicians (Dr. Edward Dench) was a Surgeon Director at the New York Eye & Ear Infirmary.

       Horace Green, a consultant at the New York Eye & Ear Infirmary in 1846, was considered by many to be the father of laryngology in New York City and one of the founders of the New York Medical College. ²¹

       In 1884 Karl Koller discovered cocaine and its use as a topical anesthetic. The first institution he lectured at in America was the New York Eye & Ear Infirmary.