Home Town Hospital
The Norwegian Lutheran Deaconesses' Home & Hospital in 1910.
On the northwest corner of 46th Street and 4th Avenue.
This is a detailed history of the evolution of what many of us just knew as "Lutheran". The oldest amongst us may remember it as the Norwegian Hospital, the children today (at least for awhile) will know of it as NYU Langone - Brooklyn.
I will take you back to a time when it had NO name, it didn't exist. And when it was "born" was briefly known as the Norwegian Relief Society.
I am not a true historian, so I will not be investigating beyond what was written in newspapers. But I am a true Sunset Parker and for that reason, what I write will be "slanted" because I care more about my neighborhood than maintaining what is obviously self-serving "facts".
On a personal level, I have received treatment in this hospital, friends and family have been treated here and some are currently being treated here. I helped serve on the committee that worked to move the hospital to 55th Street & 2nd Avenue. Shirtless & sweaty I helped clean the site and carry off trash. I served on several committees, created by the hospital, aimed at helping Sunset Park, but at some point I became seen as a critic and in the eyes of a few, at the institution - their enemy. When great sums of money are involved, some people/some institutions, lose the ability to speak the truth clearly. Their vision is blurred by their financial interests. Sadly, they don't understand, if you cannot admit your faults, you cannot correct them. One little wrong turn on a long journey can easily be corrected if identified immediately. But with each additional small error, with each wrong turn, in the end you cannot possibly reach your destination.
I have no desire to besmirch the reputation of the hospital. I have the highest regard for its stated mission, the highest regard for the good that it has done and continues to do, and I recognize the valuable role it has played in providing employment to our neighbors. It is the single largest employer of Sunset Parkers. But again, I am more concerned with telling the "people's truth" rather than doing public relations for this noble institution.
As with my other "histories" - I respectfully ask for your help in locating typos, grammatical errors and factual errors. Please report them using the button at the bottom of the page.
1864
In Norway, the Seaman's Mission was formed to preach the Gospel to Scandinavian sailors in foreign ports. They sent missionaries to 31 different ports.
1878
The Seamen’s Mission in Norway sent Ole Bugge Asperheim to establish a church in New York. He purchased the former Dutch Reformed church at 111 Pioneer Street (then called William Street) in the Red Hook area of Brooklyn, which became the Norwegian Seaman's Church for the next 50 years.
1882
Members of the church, including Mrs. Anna Bors, wife of the Norwegian/Swedish Consul in New York, several Pastors of the church and Gabriel Fedde, recognized the need to reach out to Norwegian immigrants in America, especially the impoverished and those in need of medical assistance.
The group decided to ask Gabriel Fedde's sister-in-law a Norwegian Deaconess, Sister Elizabeth Fedde, to come to New York and inaugurate the work and become the first Lutheran Deaconess in America.
On Christmas Day 1882, her birthday, she received a letter imploring her to come to the United States to assist the Norwegian immigrants who were experiencing the worst misfortunes of immigration.
NOTE: The United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway (the United Kingdoms), was a personal union of the separate kingdoms of Sweden and Norway under a common monarch and common foreign policy that lasted from 1814 until its amicable and peaceful dissolution in 1905.
1883
Sister Elizabeth arrive in America.
Ten days after her arrival in America, the first organizing meeting was held in the home of Pastor Hansteen at 122 Second Place, Brooklyn.
They decided to rent three small rooms next to the Norwegian Seamen's Church (111 William St) at 109 William Street (renamed today Pioneer Street) for a first aid station. The cost was $9 a month.
They named the group the Norwegian Relief Society. It was the first and also largest charitable institution founded by Norwegians in the U.S.
The first medical facility (which led to the hospital we know today), was a "first aid station" in a building to the left of the church. That building was razed many years ago.
1885
A frame house at 411 4th Avenue was rented for a 9 bed hospital.
Today St. Thomas Aquinas Church is on the location.
Sister Elizabeth was given the title "Sister Superior" of the hospital and soon after, she was invited to move to Pittsburgh to take charge of a hospital.
The Norwegian Relief Society provided more than just medical assistance. They reached out to assist any Norwegians in need of help. Notice the ad they placed in a local paper to help a young woman find employment.
1886
The Norwegian Relief Society officially incorporated this year. They also began to realize the need to have a hospital under separate control.
More than 20,000 Scandinavian sailors were coming yearly to the Port of New York. Between 25% and 50% of the sailors on American vessels are Scandinavians. (photo showing maritime workers in Norway at that time)
1890
Two thousand supporters of the hospital show up at a fund raising event on 60th Street.
The Norwegian Relief Society joins the Hospital Saturday and Sunday Association - a joint fundraising group on note.
1889
Sister Elizabeth agrees to go to Minneapolis for a few years, where she established the Lutheran Deaconess Home and Hospital of the Lutheran Free Church and helped make plans for an additional hospital in Chicago. Upon her departure another Sister was secured to continue her work in NYC.
The hospital moves to 46th & 4th, in October, expanding to 30 beds in a large woodframe building. It is under the direction of Sister Dorothea. It is known as the Norwegian Deaconesses Home and Hospital. But in general called "The Norwegian Hospital".
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1891
They buy their first one-horse ambulance.
What a change in ambulances over the last 127 years
1892
The Society is re-incorporated as the Norwegian Lutheran Deaconesses' Home and Hospital, the name it has been operating under. The Board of Managers makes the following statement: "Said name signifies to us the duty which we as Norwegians and as Lutherans owe to the community and the country in which we live. If we share the blessings of our adopted land, it is certainly also our duty to help carry its burdens and to shrink from no responsibility resting upon us."
1895
The Norwegian Hospital has its proudest moment.
The 30 bed hospital, with all 30 beds filled, handled 36 patients from a nearby train crash. Many of the injuries required surgery, but within 4 hours all were operated on and beds were found for each.
The hospital had an agreement with the City to have 2 beds available at all times for emergency cases brought by ambulance.
This catastrophe far exceeded the expected capacity and showed the City what a valuable asset it was.
1895
Twelve years after coming to America, Sister Elizabeth returned to Norway to rest and regain her health and then perhaps return to America.
But in 1898 she resigned her Deaconess calling in order to marry Ole A. P. Slettebø, her childhood sweetheart. She made a final trip back to the United States to celebrate the growth of her work there. In 1921 she died, three years before her husband.
1900
One of the patient's wards.
1903
Nursing Graduates
1904
A brick building with an entrance courtyard is built on the northwest corner of 46th St & 4th Ave. The hospital now has 90 beds.
The photo above is obviously many years after the hospital opened - it is covered with ivy.
The map on the right shows the shape of the new building (the building many of us grew up knowing).
Why do you think they built that large U-shaped courtyard? Isn't that a waste of space? Email us your answer.
A group of Deaconesses two years after the opening of the new hospital.
This was a time of great and rapid change in Sunset Park, New York City and the entire nation.
Huge numbers of immigrants were shifting from one side of the Atlantic to the other.
The need for more housing, better mass transit and more institutions was needed - the response was quick. New schools, libraries and hospitals were being built. Most of Sunset Park's housing was built in this period, as was the 4th Ave subway.
1908
Deaconesses Home (picture above) built on southwest corner of 46th & 4th. Many of us recall this building on the corner of 46th - seeing it as we came up from the subway.
Notice the middle of 4th Avenue. The subway has not yet been built - the start of construction was still about 4 years away.
Just a few years earlier, the City decided to spend a lot of money on putting trees & bushes in the center of 4th Avenue. And just like City planning today - they quickly ripped it all out to build the 4th Avenue subway
In the same year, the Augustana Home for the Aged was opened. To the right is a photo of it from 1932.
A local postcard from 1910 sent by a Deaconess or Deaconess in training.
This early photo shows what I would call the admitting office. On the wall in front of the man, most likely is a listing of all the rooms with cards showing the name & status of patients for easy review - kind of like Delaney cards from our school days.
This photo and the similar ones that follow are most likely from the Evangelical Lutheran Church Association. Although this one is listed, like the others, as 1910, I tend to think it is from the previous wood frame building, not the new 1908 building.
Take your time and look closely at the photo. See what you notice, see what questions come to you. Like what is that stack of paper by the door? Or what roles did each of these four folks play? Feel free to email us with your thoughts.
If you just rush past these photos you are missing a great experience. Take your time, study the faces of these Deaconesses. Who is the stern one? Who is the cheerful one that patients looked forward to seeing when she came into the ward?
Who looks stern but maybe had a smile that could brighten the situation? Who spoke no English?
Who will leave in just a year and run off with her boyfriend?
I am so amazed by this photo of the operating room. Again, take your time. Consider the roles of these 8 people. Look at the sparse and limited equipment. Look at the abundance of lighting above and most likely there is a skylight also.
Don't rush, enjoy this moment.
And here is the same room, with the doctors posing for this photo. Notice the label on the photo. Notice the initials - NLDHH - what is that?
These two lovely photos are from Jackie Lund's Trinity Church collection. The second photo is a close-up from the first.
Again, the center median of 4th Avenue gives us clues to the date. We know that this building opened in 1908 and the planted median was torn up around 1912 or so for the construction of the subway.
Notice the knickers on the boys and the "newsie" cap on two of them.
And how about that horse drawn carriage?
It may be hard to see - but there is a balcony on the top floor and notice that the courtyard doesn't have any fences (which are seen on more recent photos). And it seems that the court yard is actually a "roadway" for carriages to come in and out. Did you notice the lettering just below the roof line high above the doorway? How about the trash pails?
This is Doctor's Lounge, also in 1910. Do you think these are the same four doctors from the operating room?
Is that a phone on the wall or an intercom?
Notice the rocking chair?
A fine group photo of Deaconesses in 1910. In the center is Rev. Alfred O. Fonkalsrud. I wonder if that woman has the title of "Sister Superior"?
Can she possibly be Sister Dorothea who replaced Sister Elizabeth some 20 years earlier? (I should mention sometimes Sister Elizabeth's name is spelled with an "s" not a "z".)
1916
An addition is added to the new building (behind it to the west). It matches the original building and now brings the beds to 165. Don't be confused by the 1929 on the map - that is the date of the map, but the rear matching addition was completed in 1916
1918
World War I - The government takes over the hospital for wounded soldiers for the duration of the war.
Let's take a break and quickly look at the "history" of ambulances at the hospital. Their first ambulance (as you saw previously) was a horse drawn carriage in 1891. They switched from horse drawn to motorized in 1915 (just before moving into the new building talked about above). At one point, the hospital played "hardball" with the City. It seems that the City & hospitals have a financial arrangement and our hospital was being short-changed by the City. So the hospital announced it would no longer have ambulances of its own. It still agreed to take patients brought by ambulances from other hospitals, but they were drawing a line in the sand with the City. The City gave in and soon our hospital had ambulances again.
I need your help with this photo on the left. In 1908 the Sister's Nursing home was built and yet this photo seems to be saying that it was dedicated in 1923. I don't quite know how to figure this out. So I present this here and hope you can help figure it out. By the way, the 1908 photo shows plants in the center median indicating it was before 1911.
This 1931 photo of the Norwegian Hospital is amazing. It seems that they added sidewalk fencing & masonry columns. But even more amazing the second floor seems to have a balcony but NO fencing! The top floor also has balcony's but at least fences.
I am so grateful to Sunset Parker Clifford Moller for this 1932 family photo. That is Cliff's dad 3rd from left at the Norwegian Hospital posing with kitchen staff & some nurses. I know there must be many more photos out there from Sunset Parkers, please consider sharing a copy with me so that I can add it to this page.
On the right is a photo of the hospital's modern, top technology dental office in 1931. It is hard to make out equipment in this copy from the Brooklyn Eagle but it looks more like a torture chamber than a dental office.
Notice in this 1932 photo the subway grating along 4th Avenue. And the wording high above the doorway. Do you think those words are actually there? Maybe they were just added to the photo?
1939
Medical staff of 128 consultants, attendants & physcians and a house staff of 15. Since the hospital opened its doors, 50 years earlier, more than 116,000 bed patients have been cared for over a total of 850,000 hospital days. In 1889 there were 64 bed patients and in 1938, 5,318. There were 12 ambulance calls in 1889, 306 in 1939. In 1889 there were 4,125 emergency room visits but in 1938 there were 14,704.
During World War II the hospital had to borrow gasoline (war rationing was in effect) to keep the ambulances running.
1943
The old Telephone Switching building at 362 51st Street is purchased and made into a maternity hospital. It is named the Sister Elizabeth Memorial Maternity Pavilion. There is now a total of 265 beds associated with the hospital.
I am grateful to Kathleen Conroy for this information:
"I had my son there in April of 1977. I remember them saying that the new maternity wing would open in June of 1977 on 2nd Ave and 55th Street."
1949
The 265 bed hospital treats 7,318 in-patients and 21,482 out-patients.
1950
$750,000 is raised for a new modern building to be built on the southwest corner of 45th St. It will be a 142 bed wing. And it is planned that the maternity wing would be moved there.
1956
The hospital merges with the Lutheran Hospital of Manhattan and forms the Lutheran Medical Center.
1964
The new modern building is opened.
1967
Sunset Park Family Health Center opens
Lutheran Family Health Center National Dental Residency Program begins
Back to its Roots
When our hospital began as the Norwegian Relief Society, most of the work was in "social services" - feeding the poor and all of the supports needed for people under great stress to live a more "whole" life. In the late 1960's the Federal government began "pouring" money into providing these services. The Federal government realized (especially after the riots and disturbances of the 1960's) that the fabric of the nation was unraveling due to health needs, lack of jobs, inferior education, racism and inadequate housing.
New programs were created - it was like FDR's programs meant to bring us out of the financial depression of the 1930's by putting the unemployed back to work rebuilding the infrastructure of the county.
But this time, the emphasis was on rebuilding the lives of Americans. Headstart Programs recognized that the earlier kids get into school, the better their chances of success. Similarly, school breakfast and lunch programs were spread to more schools (and in some communities, groups like the Black Panthers recognized this before the government and were already providing it). Manpower Programs started training folks and the best "invention" ever - the "New Careers for the Poor" concept began - on the job training for the poor who could not afford 4 or more years of college with no salary to become professionals. Overnight folks were entering the fields of medicine, education and law as paramedics, paraprofessionals and paralegals.
Lutheran under the guidance of George Adams, that's him walking out of the hospital one day) jumped head first into this new world of social services being an integral part of a person's health. He hired Ann Brixner who in a basement office had one job - the research government funding grants and write requests. The hospital's mission got broader and broader with each grant. I recall, as a young civic activist being taken on a tour of the old Department of Health building on 49th Street. Lutheran (as our hospital was now referred to) was sharing space in the building and providing state of the art health services and social service and mental health and addiction services. As a community activist I was really impressed.
Lutheran Family Health Centers, based in Sunset Park, is a community-based ambulatory health care system affiliated with Lutheran HealthCare. The group of family health centers has been recognized by the National Committee for Quality Assurance as a Level 3 Patient-Centered medical home. Governed by the Lutheran Family Health Centers' Board of Trustees, the centers make up one of the largest health center networks in the country and have been serving southwest Brooklyn for more than 45 years.
The program also includes 29 school-based health centers and community programs, three WIC programs, adult and family literacy programs, three child care centers and a family wellness center. The network is the primary medical provider for more than 100,000 people. The family health centers handle nearly 700,000 patient visits a year, officials said.
The Department of Health building on 49th Street when it was being shared by Lutheran
1969
Lutheran Medical Center proposes moving into a refurbished factory building - American Machine & Foundry (AMF) building on 2nd Avenue and 55th Street.
The community came together and used "sweat equity" to help pay for the transfer of the old AMF building to Lutheran. We got out there on hot summer days and shoveled, swept and carried off trash.
1972
An important effort of Lutheran was the rebuilding of Sunset Park's deteriorating housing stock.
Greedy real estate interests were "chewing" Sunset Park's housing stock up. Building after building was being abandoned (tenants often forced out by a combination of lack of services and fires being set).
The City had cooperated by previously "red lining" all the housing below 3rd Avenue - innocent property owners could no longer get housing insurance or home improvement loans.
Sunset was crumbling to the ground
But Kathy Wylde at Lutheran was a force to be reckoned with. She helped create one civic group after the other uniting residents, churches and the hospital in efforts to address specific problems.
A Sunset Park Emergency Housing Committee to stockpile cots and blankets in church basements to keep families from being driven out by fires.
But most important the Sunset Park Redevelopment Committee. A group that set out to buy worthless housing, have it repaired with government grants and guaranteed loans and then provide affordable housing to the people who were being driven out.
Over the years, numerous buildings spouted up in the ruins. A prime example being the beautiful quality houses on the corner of 4th & 55th where South Reformed Church burned to the ground.
Or the corner of 53rd & 6th. The plan below 3rd was to temporarily move a family out of unsafe housing, repair the building and then provide them with loans to move back in as owners. We imagined leapfrogging from house to house - move you out, fix it up, put you back in.
1977
In July Lutheran Medical Center moves into its new 550 bed hospital.
On the right is the modern beautiful new lobby of the hospital.
In the same year Shore Hill Housing is opened:
9000 Shore Road
Brooklyn, New York 11209
Shore Hill is a 558-unit private apartment complex, consisting of two fourteen-story towers and a separate community building situated on a three-acre site.
The construction of Shore Hill was financed by New York State Housing Finance Agency with the cooperation of the State Division of Housing and Community Renewal.
Shore hill features 325 efficiency apartments, 233 one-bedroom apartments and parking facilities.
In 2008 the Owner decided to preserve affordable housing for elderly persons via refinancing thru the IRS Section 42 Tax Credit Program.
Shore Hill has proven to be an asset to the Bay Ridge community. Its facilities have been made available regularly to the Board of Elections, the American Association of Retired Persons, the Bay Ridge Historical Society, the Bay Ridge Community Council and Community Board 10. Many as a model development recognize the complex for senior housing, both in its design and management. Shore Hill was built as independent housing for low-income elderly persons.
1978
When Lutheran moved to its new building the old site was quickly converted into the Marien-Heim Senior Housing complex.
Marien-Heim of Sunset Park is a senior low income housing apartment subsidized by the federal governments HUD (Housing and Urban Development Division).
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
MARIEN-HEIM FINISHED
THEN NOW
Below is the east side of 6th Avenue between 52nd & 53rd in 1982.
6th Ave 53rd to 54th St
Nowhere in Sunset was the devastation worse than 6th Avenue from 52nd to 54th. The "wrecks" of once solid housing resembled post-World War II Europe.
But the SPRC group turned all of that around and saved Sunset Park.
1995
A decision was made to rebuild Augustana on the campus of the Lutheran Medical Center in Sunset Park. Construction was completed in 1995.
Augustana has 240 extended care and rehabilitation beds with access to the sophisticated medical technology of Lutheran Medical Center by way of a connecting skyway. Providing 24-hours-a-day skilled nursing, medical and support services for those requiring short-term restorative rehabilitation or sub-acute services and/or long-term care.
Augustana is recognized for its intensive short-term restorative rehabilitation program for the post-hospital treatment of disabilities caused by complex orthopedic, neurological and other acute or chronic medical conditions. Other clinical services include individualized nutritional care, social services, palliative, hospice and pastoral care.
Harbor Hill Housing is opened
Harbor Hill Housing
5613 2nd Avenue
Brooklyn, New York 11220
Harbor Hill is an 86-unit apartment community built by NYU Lutheran to accommodate the housing needs of very-low income, frail/elderly individuals.
The construction of Harbor Hill (1995) was financed by U.S. Housing and Urban Development thru the PRAC 202 Program. Harbor Hill features twelve efficiency apartments, seventy-four one-bedroom apartments. Nine units are reserved for mobility impaired persons.
Harbor Hill is an asset to the Sunset Park community. Its facilities have been made available regularly to non-profit organizations. It is a model development both in its design and management for the senior population
1999
The hospital was designated as a Level 1 Trauma Center - a trauma center is a hospital that is especially committed to and qualified to take care of patients who have suffered serious sudden injury. A trauma center treats the patient through the hospitalization and beyond. Trauma center care is provided by a team of medical professionals.
2008
Sunset Gardens Housing opened
405 44th Street
Built in 2008 Sunset Gardens is an 80-unit apartment community sponsored and developed by NYU Lutheran to accommodate the housing needs of very low income frail/elderly persons.
The construction of Sunset Gardens was financed by United States Housing and Urban Development thru the PRAC 202 Program. Sunset Gardens features eighty 1-bedroom apartments. Two units are reserved for mobility impaired and two units for hearing/visually impaired.
2013
In 2013 on the 130th Anniversary the hospital, those in charge renewed their commitment to a faith-based mission, unveiled their new mission, vision and core values.
And very interestingly, the ELCA Church Council (The ELCA Church Council serves as the board of directors for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) voted to end its legal role as the sole corporate sponsor of the hospital.
It is amazing to look back in time and now see this very interesting business move and how it was played out over a few years with very deliberate actions
Thank you Christine Clark for these photos
2015
Lutheran (now 450 beds) joins with NYU Langone (1,069 bed upper east side hospital) and becomes NYU Lutheran Medical Center.
Under the agreement, each hospital will retain its own board of trustees.
But Crain’s New York Business reported that NYU Langone will have authority to remove members of NYU Lutheran’s board of directors as well as fill vacancies on the board. NYU Langone will also have the authority to approve any merger NYU Lutheran enters into with another health care institution and has the authority to review any NYU Lutheran transaction of $25 million or more.
In addition, NYU Langone will have the final say on NYU Lutheran's operating and capital budgets, according to Crain’s.
“We are extremely excited to affiliate with the great faculty and staff at NYU Langone,” NYU Lutheran President and CEO Wendy Z. Goldstein said in a statement.
2017
Amazon donates $25 million and Lutheran is dropped from the name and becomes "NYU Langone Hospital - Brooklyn".
NYU Langone Hospital — Brooklyn plans to shutter the Augustana Lutheran Center, at 5434 Second Ave., next summer with the company planing to use the building to expand their acute care and ambulatory services in the future, a spokesman for NYU Langone Hospital — Brooklyn said.
The move will leave about 50 seniors looking for a new home. The center currently houses 50 residents with 30 living there permanently.
Currently, Augustana has 240 extended care and rehabilitation beds with access to the sophisticated medical technology of Lutheran Medical Center by way of a connecting skyway. Providing 24-hours-a-day skilled nursing, medical and support services for those requiring short-term restorative rehabilitation or sub-acute services and/or long-term care. Augustana is recognized for its intensive short-term restorative rehabilitation program for the post-hospital treatment of disabilities caused by complex orthopedic, neurological and other acute or chronic medical conditions. Other clinical services include individualized nutritional care, social services, palliative, hospice and pastoral care.
Below are some comments about our hospital from Sunset Parkers.
Feel free to use the email button at the bottom to send your memories
and I will add them to this post.
2018
Barbara Muller-Quigley l was born there in 1949 and my daughter in 1976...when my son was born in 1979 he was born in the new Lutheran Medical Center.
Jay De Guzman "Anyone born in Sister Elizabeth/LMC between 1967-2006 my mom probably took care of you. She was in the group of original Filipino nurses who came over from the Philippines in '67 and she was a nurse (then a head nurse starting in 1974) in the nursery until she retired in 2006".
Since around 1978, births were moved to Lutheran Medical Center.
The building's first use was as a switching station for the NY Telephone Company.
Many women worked in the building. So it is fitting that it became a maternity hospital. The phone company in December of 1930 started using a word to begin phone numbers.
So in our neighborhood, because of Sunset Park they used Sunset. You would dial SU 6-1234 or some number. We also had a lot of Irish so they used Ulster or UL. Ulster is a county in Ireland. Another one used was HY for Hyacinth - I don't know why.
Today, 2018, our once humble little Norwegian Hospital, now NYU Langone- Brooklyn is described as being a leader in community-based health with one the of the country’s largest federally qualified health center systems with 600,000 visits a year, hundreds of subsidized housing units for seniors, a family support center that provides free job training, English classes, reading and Even Start programs. The medical center continues to redefine the “community hospital” concept with the area’s only Level I Trauma Center, a state designated regional stroke center, a bariatric surgical institute, and more.
In 1891, it was written - "Wherever she heard of cases of misery, poverty or degradation she visited the suffering and ministered to their wants. She made weekly visits among the sick in the hospital on Ward's Island and was a frequent visitor at other hospitals in New York and Brooklyn. The vision of a solitary woman walking the streets of South Brooklyn with a basket on her arm, going from baker to butcher and grocer, asking for supplies wherewith to succor the poor was well known. The mission was simple - to relieve distress in the humblest of abodes.
Hopefully, our hospital will continue on this mission.