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Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital
The Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital (also known as USPHS Hospital No. 43) was a United States Public Health Service hospital on Ellis Island, in New York Harbor, that operated from 1902 to 1951. The hospital is part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument. While the monument is managed by the National Park Service as part of the National Parks of New York Harbor office, the south side of Ellis Island, including the hospital, is managed by the non-profit Save Ellis Island Foundation and has been off-limits to the general public since its closing in 1954.
Constructed in phases, the facility encompassed both a general hospital and a separate pavilion-style contagious disease hospital. The hospital had two functions: treating immigrants who were ill upon arrival, and treating immigrants with conditions that were prohibited by immigration laws. These latter patients were stabilized and often sent back to their home countries. Between 1902 and 1951 the hospital treated over 275,000 patients; there were approximately 4,000 fatalities and 350 babies were born there.
The immigrant hospital was run by the Marine Hospital Service, which was re-organized and expanded in 1902 and became the Public Health and Marine Hospital Service. The name was shortened in 1912 and became the United States Public Health Service (PHS). All of the doctors at Ellis Island were part of the commissioned corps of the United States Public Health Service. Nurses and all other medical personnel were employees of the PHS. The PHS doctors conducted the line inspection, the medical examination of arriving immigrants, and treated detained immigrants in the hospitals.
Efforts to restore the hospital buildings and other structures on the island are being made by the Save Ellis Island Foundation. The hospital complex has been open to the public on a limited basis for hard hat tours since 2014, provided by the Save Ellis Island Foundation.
Prior to being an immigration station, Ellis Island was the site of Fort Gibson, an 18th-century fort which was part of the New York Harbor defenses along with the Battery, Fort Wood on Bedloe's Island, and Fort Jay on Governors Island. By the late 19th century, Fort Gibson was obsolete and the island was used by the Navy to store munitions.
The need for hospitals as part of the immigration process was well-established when the new Ellis Island Immigration Station opened. In the 1860s (when immigration was administered by the states), New York State sent sick immigrants from the main entrance facility at Castle Clinton in the Battery to a separate purpose-built and very effective new hospital facility. The Verplanck State Emigrant Hospital on Ward's Island, which opened in 1864 was constructed in the pavilion style, a hygienic layout promoted by Florence Nightingale in her Notes On Hospitals and hailed by the New York Times as the exemplar of a modern hospital.
As the number of immigrants increased, it was decided that the US government had to take control of immigration. In 1882 the US government passed the Immigration Act of 1882. It excluded any immigrant who was "likely to become a public charge" (LPC), effectively denying entrance to prospective immigrants who could not demonstrate their ability to work and would require government assistance to survive. The law also barred immigrants who were convicts, those convicted of political offenses or who were "idiots, psychopathics, or afflicted with a loathsome infectious or contagious disease". It also established a head tax to be paid to the federal government, which replaced one charged by New York State, which was declared unconstitutional in 1875 as per Henderson v. Mayor of City of New York, 92 U.S. 259. The local administration, however, was to be carried out by state officers designated by the various states involved.
The Immigration Act of 1891 formalized previous immigration laws and gave full authority to the US government, including the ability to enforce the laws and to deport immigrants who did not meet the requirements. The Marine Hospital Service, later renamed the US Public Health Service, was charged with administering the new immigration laws for the federal government.
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Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital
The Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital (also known as USPHS Hospital No. 43) was a United States Public Health Service hospital on Ellis Island, in New York Harbor, that operated from 1902 to 1951. The hospital is part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument. While the monument is managed by the National Park Service as part of the National Parks of New York Harbor office, the south side of Ellis Island, including the hospital, is managed by the non-profit Save Ellis Island Foundation and has been off-limits to the general public since its closing in 1954.
Constructed in phases, the facility encompassed both a general hospital and a separate pavilion-style contagious disease hospital. The hospital had two functions: treating immigrants who were ill upon arrival, and treating immigrants with conditions that were prohibited by immigration laws. These latter patients were stabilized and often sent back to their home countries. Between 1902 and 1951 the hospital treated over 275,000 patients; there were approximately 4,000 fatalities and 350 babies were born there.
The immigrant hospital was run by the Marine Hospital Service, which was re-organized and expanded in 1902 and became the Public Health and Marine Hospital Service. The name was shortened in 1912 and became the United States Public Health Service (PHS). All of the doctors at Ellis Island were part of the commissioned corps of the United States Public Health Service. Nurses and all other medical personnel were employees of the PHS. The PHS doctors conducted the line inspection, the medical examination of arriving immigrants, and treated detained immigrants in the hospitals.
Efforts to restore the hospital buildings and other structures on the island are being made by the Save Ellis Island Foundation. The hospital complex has been open to the public on a limited basis for hard hat tours since 2014, provided by the Save Ellis Island Foundation.
Prior to being an immigration station, Ellis Island was the site of Fort Gibson, an 18th-century fort which was part of the New York Harbor defenses along with the Battery, Fort Wood on Bedloe's Island, and Fort Jay on Governors Island. By the late 19th century, Fort Gibson was obsolete and the island was used by the Navy to store munitions.
The need for hospitals as part of the immigration process was well-established when the new Ellis Island Immigration Station opened. In the 1860s (when immigration was administered by the states), New York State sent sick immigrants from the main entrance facility at Castle Clinton in the Battery to a separate purpose-built and very effective new hospital facility. The Verplanck State Emigrant Hospital on Ward's Island, which opened in 1864 was constructed in the pavilion style, a hygienic layout promoted by Florence Nightingale in her Notes On Hospitals and hailed by the New York Times as the exemplar of a modern hospital.
As the number of immigrants increased, it was decided that the US government had to take control of immigration. In 1882 the US government passed the Immigration Act of 1882. It excluded any immigrant who was "likely to become a public charge" (LPC), effectively denying entrance to prospective immigrants who could not demonstrate their ability to work and would require government assistance to survive. The law also barred immigrants who were convicts, those convicted of political offenses or who were "idiots, psychopathics, or afflicted with a loathsome infectious or contagious disease". It also established a head tax to be paid to the federal government, which replaced one charged by New York State, which was declared unconstitutional in 1875 as per Henderson v. Mayor of City of New York, 92 U.S. 259. The local administration, however, was to be carried out by state officers designated by the various states involved.
The Immigration Act of 1891 formalized previous immigration laws and gave full authority to the US government, including the ability to enforce the laws and to deport immigrants who did not meet the requirements. The Marine Hospital Service, later renamed the US Public Health Service, was charged with administering the new immigration laws for the federal government.