James J. Peters VA Medical Center

The James J. Peters VA Medical Center, (also known as the Bronx Veterans Hospital), is a US Department of Veterans Affairs hospital complex located at 130 West Kingsbridge Road in West Fordham, Bronx, New York City.[1] The hospital is the headquarters of the Veterans Integrated Service Networks New York/New Jersey VA Health Care Network.[3] This network is also the parent network to VA New York Harbor Healthcare System.

James J. Peters VA Medical Center
Veterans Health Administration
View of James J. Peters VA Medical Center main building on left, research building on right.
Left: chapel, and nursing home. Center: main facility. Right: research building.
Map
Geography
LocationFordham[1], The Bronx, New York, United States
Coordinates40°52′02″N 73°54′22″W / 40.86732525°N 73.90614128°W / 40.86732525; -73.90614128
Organization
Care systemVeterans Health Administration
FundingGovernment hospital
TypeTeaching
Affiliated universityIcahn School of Medicine, North Central Bronx Hospital[2] Hospital for Special Surgery
NetworkVeterans Integrated Service Networks 2: VA NY/NJ Veterans Healthcare Network
Services
Beds311 hospital and 120 nursing home beds
Public transit access New York City Subway: "4" train at Kingsbridge Road
"B" train"D" train at Kingsbridge Road
"1" train at Marble Hill–225th Street
Bus interchange New York City Bus: Bx3, Bx9, Bx22, Bx28, Bx32
Mainline rail interchange Metro-North Railroad:      Hudson Line at Marble Hill
History
Former name(s)
  • United States Veterans' Hospital No. 81
  • Bronx Veterans Hospital
  • Bronx Veterans Administration Hospital
  • Bronx Veterans Administration Medical Center
Opened
  • April 15, 1922; 102 years ago (1922-04-15) original campus
  • 1981 (1981) current main building
  • 1985 (1985) research building
Links
Websitewww.bronx.va.gov
ListsHospitals in New York State
Other linksHospitals in The Bronx

The campus falls under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs Police and the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General.

History

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The original United States Veterans' Hospital No. 81 building.

During the American Revolutionary War, the site of the medical center was the location of British '"Fort Number 6" (1777–1779).[4] During the 19th century, the land was part of the estate of Nathaniel Platt Bailey.[1][5] The site then became the property of the Sisters of Charity of New York who turned it into the Bronx Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum.[6][7][8] The hospital opened as United States Veterans' Hospital no. 81 on April 15, 1922.[9][10][11]

By the 1970s, the original hospital had deteriorated to the point that a Life magazine article was written about it.[12][13] One of the hospital's patients during this time period was Ron Kovic, who described the hospital as having "deplorable conditions".[14][15] The hospital was eventually rebuilt in the late 1970s to address these issues.[16][17][18]

The Bronx Veterans hospital was renamed after James J. Peters in 2002.[19] Peters, a US Army veteran, was patient of the Bronx Veterans Hospital who founded several organizations to address the needs of patients with spinal cord injuries, including the United Spinal Association, originally known as the Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association.[20]

The Fisher House Foundation is building two Fisher houses on the James J. Peters VA Medical Center grounds in 2018.[21]

Research

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Research building is to the right

The hospital has been a center of medical research for decades. Ludwik Gross who became the director of the Cancer Research Division started his research at the hospital in 1944.[22] Beginning in the 1950s Rosalyn Sussman Yalow and Solomon Berson conducted research into radioimmunoassay. Their laboaratory at one point was a repurposed janitor's closet. The research culminated in Yalow receiving the 1977 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.[23] (Her collaborator, Solomon Berson, who died in 1972 was not eligible for the prize, as Nobel prizes are not awarded posthumously.)[24] In 1966 James Cimino and Michael J. Brescia developed the Cimino-Brescia fistula.[25]

In 1985 a dedicated five storey medical research building connected to the main building was erected.[26][27] The research building contains the Spinal Cord Damage Research Center, established due to the efforts of the Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association (now United Spinal Association) and its director James J. Peters.[28]

Personnel

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Sterling and Yalow receiving Middleton Award 1973

Deaths of notable people

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Boy's chapel at the Bronx VA Hospital
 
Looking up the University Heights hill from the Bronx shoreline

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Bailey Playground Highlights : NYC Parks". www.nycgovparks.org. New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  2. ^ "ACGME – Accreditation Data System (ADS) 1403531517 – Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (Bronx) Program". apps.acgme.org. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
  3. ^ "New York/New Jersey VA Health Care Network". www.visn2.va.gov. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
  4. ^ "Numbered Forts in New York City". New York State Military History Museum. New York State Military History Museum. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  5. ^ "New York City Revolutionary War Forts". North American Forts. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  6. ^ Jenkins, Stephen (1912). The Story of the Bronx from the Purchase Made by the Dutch from the Indians in 1639 to the Present Day. G.P. Putnam's Sons. pp. 343–344. Retrieved January 30, 2018. roman catholic orphan asylum bronx.
  7. ^ Twomey, Bill; Casey, Thomas X. (2011). Northwest Bronx. Arcadia Publishing. p. 41. ISBN 9780738574660. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  8. ^ McAuley, Kathleen A.; Hermalyn, Gary (2010). The Bronx. Arcadia Publishing. p. 78. ISBN 9780738573151. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  9. ^ "Veterans' Hospital Opens in the Bronx – Archbishop Hayes and Group of Prominent Persons Attend Dedication Exercises – Beds Provided for 1,000 – Radio Consultation Conducted With Physician on Ship Seventy-Five Miles Away". New York Times. April 16, 1922. p. 23. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
  10. ^ "About the James J. Peters VA Medical Center". va.gov. United States Department of Veterans Affairs. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
  11. ^ "VA locations". va.gov. United States Department of Veterans Affairs. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
  12. ^ Childs, Charles; Rentmeester, Co (May 22, 1970). "Our Forgotten Wounded". Life magazine. pp. 24D–34. Retrieved December 9, 2018 – via Google Books.
  13. ^ Bohica (April 17, 2005). "Our Forgotten Wounded (graphic heavy)". Daily Kos. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
  14. ^ Scheer, Robert (February 19, 2016). "Ron Kovic and the Continuing Struggle for Veterans". KCRW. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
  15. ^ Lopez, Steve (November 8, 2014). "Forty years after 'Fourth of July,' Ron Kovic still speaking up against war". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
  16. ^ Duddy, James (February 24, 1976). "Picket Kingsbridge for minority jobs". New York Daily News. p. ML7. Retrieved December 9, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "Prox Raps VA over cost of Bronx building". New York Daily News. March 17, 1975. p. 24. Retrieved December 9, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ Lane, Robert (July 8, 1973). "Attack St. Albans' Beaching". New York Daily News. p. B2. Retrieved December 9, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Paid Notice: Deaths – Peters, James J." The New York Times. September 11, 2002. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
  20. ^ Bodner, Donald R; Murphy, Carolann (October 2009). "Pioneer in Advocacy: The Legacy of James J. Peters". The Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine. 32 (5): 501–502. doi:10.1080/10790268.2009.11754552. ISSN 1079-0268. PMC 2792456. PMID 20025146.
  21. ^ "Bronx Fisher Houses I & II". www.fisherhouse.org. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
  22. ^ Hays, Marguerite T. (2010). A Historical Look at the Department of Veterans Affairs Research and Development Program (PDF). Department of Veterans Affairs’ Office of Research and Development. p. 104. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
  23. ^ Gellene, Denise (June 1, 2011). "Rosalyn S. Yalow, 89, Nobel Physicist". The New York Times. Retrieved December 22, 2017.
  24. ^ "Rosalyn Yalow and Solomon A. Berson". Science History Institute. June 1, 2016. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
  25. ^ Brescia, Michael J.; Cimino, James E.; Appel, Kenneth; Hurwich, Baruch J. (November 17, 1966). "Chronic Hemodialysis Using Venipuncture and a Surgically Created Arteriovenous Fistula". New England Journal of Medicine. 275 (20): 1089–1092. doi:10.1056/NEJM196611172752002. ISSN 0028-4793. PMID 5923023.
  26. ^ "Bronx Veterans Medical Research Building". Archived from the original on February 18, 2022. Retrieved February 18, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  27. ^ Final Report of the VA Research Infrastructure Program (PDF). Department of Veterans Affairs’ Office of Research and Development. pp. (3-75)–(3-76). Retrieved February 18, 2022.
  28. ^ Moakley, Terence J. (2003). "Memorial - James J. Peters, 1945–2002" (PDF). Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development. 40 (1): iii–iv. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
  29. ^ Gellene, Denise (June 1, 2011). "Rosalyn S. Yalow, 89, Nobel Physicist". The New York Times. Retrieved December 22, 2017.
  30. ^ Brescia, Michael J.; Cimino, James E.; Appel, Kenneth; Hurwich, Baruch J. (November 17, 1966). "Chronic Hemodialysis Using Venipuncture and a Surgically Created Arteriovenous Fistula". New England Journal of Medicine. 275 (20): 1089–1092. doi:10.1056/NEJM196611172752002. ISSN 0028-4793. PMID 5923023.
  31. ^ "Western immigrants honored at Knesset award ceremony". The Times of Israel. May 15, 2014.
  32. ^ Altman, Lawrence K. (March 10, 2009). "Charles Lieber, Studied Alcohol as Toxin, Is Dead at 78". The New York Times. Retrieved March 11, 2009.
  33. ^ "Dr. Larry J. Siever MD". usnews.com. Archived from the original on August 23, 2022.
  34. ^ "PASSINGS". Los Angeles Times. April 27, 2009. Retrieved December 22, 2017.
  35. ^ Kovic, Ron (September 27, 2007). "Born on the Fourth of July: The Long Journey Home :: PEJ News". Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved December 22, 2017. Most of them were not even born when I came home wounded to the Bronx V.A. (hospital) in 1968.
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