Lincoln Hospital

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Location
Lincoln Hospital New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation
Place	234 East 149th Street Bronx, New York, (US)
Coordinates	40°48′25″N 73°54′36″W / 40.8070453, -73.9098589Coordinates: 40°48′25″N 73°54′36″W / 40.8070453, -73.9098589
Organization
Care System	Public hospital
Hospital Type	Unknown
Services
Emergency Dept.	Unknown
Beds	342^[1]
History
Founded	1839
Links
Website	Homepage
See also	Hospitals in New York

Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center, founded in 1839, is located in the South Bronx region of New York City.^[1] Lincoln has one of the busiest Emergency Rooms in the region,^[1] but has received criticism for its quality of service.^[2]

[edit] History

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Lincoln Hospital was originally founded in 1839 as the "Home for the Relief of Aged Indigent Black Persons" by a group of prominent philanthropists.^[3] The hospital's function gradually became the most important aspect of the operation, and in 1882, the name was changed to "The Colored Home and Hospital."^[3]

In 1895, after more than half a century of occupying various sites in Manhattan, the Board of Trustees purchased a large lot in the South Bronx -- then a semi-rural area of the city -- at the corner of 141st Street and Southern Boulevard. A new hospital was built; its facilities included the latest developments in medical care.^{[citation needed]} The dedication took place on April 29, 1899. The hospital became a general hospital open to all people without regard to color or creed, although it maintained its founding connection as an institution dedicated to the relief and advancement of the Black people. During the hospital's reorganization and eventual occupation of the new site, its name was changed to Lincoln Hospital, to honor the Great Emancipator.^{[citation needed]}

Because of the increasing demand for services required by a more densely populated South Bronx -- and a decreasing supply of philanthropic funds -- in 1925 the Board of Trustees decided to sell Lincoln Hospital to the Department of Public Welfare of the City of New York. The great outflow of physicians to the Armed Forces during World War II and the drastic socioeconomic decline in the area that followed -- erosion of the middle class and great immigration from the southern regions of the United States, the Caribbean, and countries of Latin America -- took their toll on Lincoln Hospital. However, the hospital enjoyed a resurgence in the 1970s as one of the finest institutions for the care of the sick and the training of professionals in the newly formed New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation.^{[citation needed]}

In the 1990s, Lincoln became part of the North-Manhattan/South Bronx "Generations Plus Network" together with Metropolitan Hospital, Morrisania Diagnostic and Treatment Center, and Segundo Ruiz Belvis Diagnostic and Treatment Center.^{[citation needed]} In spite of dire predictions, this network continues to strive to provide quality care to a diverse, multiethnic urban population in this era of managed care.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Lincoln medical center today

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In 1976, a new facility was dedicated about two miles from the "Old Lincoln," at a construction cost of 220 million dollars.^{[citation needed]} The present hospital building incorporates some of the most advanced concepts in hospital design and sophisticated equipment.^{[citation needed]} It occupies five full city blocks, providing health care to the entire South Bronx community, as well as parts of Upper Manhattan.^{[citation needed]} Lincoln also administers the Substance Abuse Division, located at 349 East 140th Street.^{[citation needed]}

As of 2007, Lincoln has a capacity of 342 beds.^[1] Although it constitutes 9% of the beds in the region, Lincoln caters to 31% of the health care visits of this community, where there is fewer than one primary care physician for every 4,000 people.^{[citation needed]}

Lincoln Hospital has received criticism for its quality of service. It has been denied accreditation multiple times due to failure to monitor patients and maintain proper records.^[2] The New York Times has reported the deaths of patients on multiple occasions due to staff mistakes.^[2]