St. Mary’s Hospital celebrates 150 years serving youth
TimesLedger | QNS.com | Oct. 2-Oct. 8, 2020 5
By Carlotta Mohamed
St. Mary’s Children’s Hospital in
Bayside celebrated its 150th year of
caring for New York’s children in
need on Wednesday, Sept. 23.
Staff members stood outside of the
hospital, located at 29-01 216th St.,
joined by healthcare workers and local
elected officials such as Senator
John Liu, Assemblyman Ed Braunstein
and Councilman Paul Vallone.
The celebration was followed by an
NYPD car parade to mark the special
occasion and patients also participated
in a livestreamed virtual
sing-along with the hospital’s music
therapist.
As New York City’s only postacute
pediatric care facility, St.
Mary’s treats the city’s most critically
ill and injured children.
The hospital was founded in 1870
when the Sisters of St. Mary established
a small, 15-bed hospital in
Hell’s Kitchen to provide free medical
care for sick children. St. Mary’s
now cares for thousands of children
each day, both in a 124-bed inpatient
facility and in the community
through family-centered home care
programs.
Despite extremely limited resources,
St. Mary’s provides innovative
therapies and rehabilitation
programs including art, music and
aquatic therapy; a Locomotor Training
Program that provides rehabilitation
to children with spinal cord
injuries; and New York’s only intensive
day patient program specializing
in pediatric feeding and swallowing
disorders. St. Mary’s also
created New York’s first long-term
home care program for children and
young adults with disabilities and
medically complex conditions — the
center for pediatric respiratory care
and the nation’s first pediatric palliative
care program.
“There is no way that a group of
Episcopal nuns in Manhattan in
1870, nor the small group of nuns
that I met in 1999, could have conceived
of the organization we have
become,” said Dr. Edwin Simpser,
president and CEO of St. Mary’s Children
Hospital. “From a little 15-bed
acute care hospital in Hell’s Kitchen
in Manhattan, we have become one
of the premier pediatric post-acute
health systems throughout the country,
if not throughout the world.”
The celebration not only honored
the hospital’s long tenure but also
their perseverance through the worst
of the COVID-19 pandemic, which
caused many of their young patients’
further stress by having visitations
from family vastly restricted.
In order to commemorate the
occasion, Liu, Braunstein and Justin
Connor, a representative from
Congressman Tom Suozzi’s office,
presented the hospital with a
proclamation.
“In this most difficult year, we
take a moment to celebrate a huge
milestone in the storied and inspirational
history of St. Mary’s. For
150 years, this hospital has provided
care and compassion in the most
difficult cases involving serious injury
and disability of children,” Liu
said. “St. Mary’s has also helped enlighten
society about the continuing
potential of the patients it has cared
for. Much thanks to Dr. Simpser and
his entire team for their work of humanity
and excellence.”
Additional reporting by Dean
Moses.
(From l. to r.) Justin Connor, a representative from Congressman Tom Suozzi’s office,
Assemblyman Ed Braunstein and Senator John Liu present St. Mary’s President
and CEO, Dr. Edwin Simper with a proclamation at the celebration.
Photo by Dean Moses
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