|
In 1968 there were 103,415 total clinic visits, 30,514 of which were otolaryngology visits, and 3065 ear, nose, and throat surgical procedures were performed. Dr. Ernest Weymuller, Executive Surgeon Director, Otolaryngology, appointed a full-time Director of Resident Education. The reputation of the Infirmary grew worldwide, and patients continued to come for medical attention from around the world. To meet the increased demand for services and the need for more space (the infirmary had been at the same location since 1856), the dream of decades was achieved in January 1968, when the new 107-bed modern voluntary hospital building was opened at 310 East 14th Street. A voluntary hospital operates as a nonprofit corporation, depending on contributions and endowments to cover its operating costs. As always in the past, the funds necessary had to be raised by the Board of Trustees and medical staff of the New York Eye & Ear Infirmary under the leadership of Gordon S. Braislin, President of the Board of Directors. The New York Eye & Ear Infirmary complex consisted of three buildings: the newly dedicated north building; the historic south building, which included a ten-station temporal bone microsurgical laboratory, anatomic dissection laboratory, and historical medical library; and the 123-unit apartment building to house the house staff and nurses, which was completed in 1974. Infirmary graduate surgeons are found throughout the United States and abroad. Many have excelled in their specialty and have occupied chairs in ophthalmology and otolaryngology in medical centers throughout the world. In 1969 Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon. In 1972 the computerized axial tomography (CAT scan) imaging system was introduced for medical diagnosis and research. In 1973 magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was developed for medical diagnosis. In September 1980 an affiliation agreement was signed with New York Medical College. New York Medical College, owned by the archdiocese of New York and located in Valhalla, New York, is the third largest private medical university in the United States and the largest in New York State. Its affiliation with Metropolitan Hospital is the oldest continuing affiliation in the nation between a private medical school and public hospital, and it was the first medical college to own its own teaching hospital (1889), the Flower Fifth Avenue Hospital, named after Roswell Flower, who later became Governor of New York State. In 1982 the first transplant of an artificial heart, Jarvik 7, was accomplished. To further strengthen this affiliation and its teaching program, the Surgeon Directors, Otolaryngology (Executive Surgeon Director Dr. Kenneth Mattucci, Dr. Paul Chodosh, Dr. Y.B. Choo, Dr. Hector Giancarlo, Dr. Felix DePenies, and Dr. Stanley Blaugrund), in 1983- with the approval of the medical staff, medical board, and board of trustees- changed the Infirmary from a horizontally oriented, six chief, surgeon director-led service, present for more than 100 years and serving the Infirmary well, to a more traditional, vertically integrated format. A search was made for the first Professor and Chairman of the Department of Otolaryngology- Head and Neck Surgery of the New York Medical College and the New York Eye & Ear Infirmary. Dr. Daniel Rabuzzi (Fig. 10), from Syracuse, was recruited and served with distinction until 1984. Dr. Frank Lucente (Fig. 11) followed and further strengthened and expanded our institution and teaching program to one of the greater national prominence. In 1992 Dr. Steven Schaefer (Fig. 12) assumed the role of Professor and Chairman, Joseph Corcoran became Chief Executive Officer, and Joseph Burkart became President of the Board of Trustees.
|