WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES JUNE 6, 2019 31
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
W’haven hospital helped sick breathe easy
PRESENTED BY THE WOODHAVEN
CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY
PROJECTWOODHAVEN@GMAIL.COM
Just over a century ago, the
Franciscan Sisters of the Poor
founded St. Anthony’s Hospital
with the purpose of treating patients
suff ering from tuberculosis. Collection
boxes were placed in hospitals around
the city, many fundraisers were held
and in 1914 the building opened on
Woodhaven Boulevard (between 89th
and 91st Avenues).
In the few years prior to St.
Anthony’s official opening, almost
ten thousand New Yorkers died
from TB and treatment had been
very hard to come by. By the end of
World War 1, New York found itself
also treating many soldiers who
came home carrying the infectious
disease.
At one point, it was estimated that
there were over three thousand
people in desperate need of treatment,
many of them children, but there
was little over 500 available hospital
beds city-wide.
St. Anthony’s tripled our city’s
ability to handle TB cases. But
they were not only providing
badly needed care, they also made
several breakthroughs in treating
tuberculosis that helped a great
many people here in New York City
and beyond.
With all of the good work that
they did, it is important to note that
residents at the time were less than
happy with the idea of a TB Hospital
in their midst. First, there were
rumors that a crematorium on-site
was going to be used on deceased and
infected patients.
Secondly, because the hospital
catered to the indigent (they were run
by the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor,
after all) residents were worried that
St. Anthony’s Hospital, founded by the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor in 1914, tripled New York City’s ability to
handle TB cases in the midst of an epidemic. Photos courtesy of Woodhaven Cultural and Historical Society
it would have an adverse impact on
the community. A century later and
similar fears are voiced by people
in neighborhoods around the city,
concerned about homeless shelters
and drop-in centers.
When St. Anthony’s Hospital first
opened, it had a big front yard, with
a large circular driveway. But that
was eliminated with the widening
of Woodhaven Boulevard. It had
a school for sick children, a small
theater for shows and a beautiful
chapel.
There was also a large field behind
the building which was used as a
farm. The Sisters would sell produce
to the locals to raise money for the
patients.
As a result of medical advances in
treating TB (many of these advances
developed at St. Anthony’s), the
Sisters became victims of their
own success. Better medicines and
treatments led to less patients and
a loss of income. And so, the Sisters
expanded their mission to include
other chest and pulmonary diseases,
and achieved
similar success.
In later years,
it served as a
training facility
for nursing. But
the building was
old and difficult
to maintain
(and started to
look a little run
down). In 1999,
the decision was
made to close the
facility and sell
the land.
Residents from
Wo o d h a v e n
fought against
the closing and
demolition of
the old historic
hospital. Several
alternate uses
were proposed
( a f f o r d a b l e
living for seniors
among them) and
many letters
written meaning
that over the
course of just
over 80 years Woodhaven went
from fighting against the building
to fighting to save it.
Ultimately, it was a losing battle
both times as the building was
demolished and replaced with
housing and a public school.
Today, the only remnant of St.
Anthony’s is a large portion of the
metal gate that surrounded the entire
property. Local kids
were all too familiar
with that gate as they
used to climb over it
to play in the fi elds
behind the hospital.
And just steps away
from where the
front entrance used
to be sits a historical
marker, placed there
by the Woodhaven
Cultura l and
Historical Society.
Many residents
today have no idea
that such a place
even existed in their
community; they
might be shocked
to find out that
many unfortunate
souls entered St.
Anthony’s only
to succumb to
tuberculosis.
But thanks to the
Franciscan Sisters
of the Poor a great
many more people
were saved and
benefited greatly
from the work performed at St.
Anthony’s Hospital and that’s what
people should remember.
Above: An aerial photo of St. Anthony’s Hospital in the
1920s. At right: Members of the Woodhaven Cultural and
Historical Society toured St. Anthony’s Hospital before it was
demolished.
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