|
At present the New York Eye & Ear Infirmary continues to grow and expand beyond the north and south buildings. Significant renovations of the existing structure are ongoing, providing ambulatory surgery facilities, private office space, expanded outpatient facilities, and support services. There were 57,000 ear, nose and throat clinic visits, 2500 ear, nose, and throat ambulatory surgery procedures, and 1300 ear, nose, and throat inpatient procedures performed at the Infirmary in 1994. The total number of patients treated at the New York Eye & Ear Infirmary in 1994 was 164,500, quite a remarkable contrast to the 1102 patients treated in 1820. There are presently 37 residents, 16 of whom are otolaryngology house staff, many fellows, 544 physicians and surgeons, 81 full-time registered nurses, and 74 part-time registered nurses. In 1994 U.S. News and World Report ranked the Department of Otolaryngology of the New York Eye & Ear Infirmary first in the State of New York and third in the United States. 23 With the solid base and background, with continued strong leadership and full-time and voluntary staff cooperation, I can see continued growth and success as a nationally recognized teaching and research center and provider of specialty medical and surgical care. No historical sketch, however short, could end without reference to the illustrious laymen, our benefactors and directors, who from the days of Colonel William Few of revolutionary fame, the first President of the Board of Governors of the Infirmary, have made it possible for a long line of devoted and skillful surgeons to do such a vast deal, uninterruptedly, for more than 140 (now 175) years, for the relief of human suffering. Their Spirit Lives with Us for Evermore" (Annual Report of the New York Eye & Ear Infirmary, 1940).
|