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Abramson, Harold - Papers, 1899-1974 Alexander, Hattie Elizabeth - Papers, 1939-1981. Andersen, Dorothy H. - Papers, 1930-1965 Andrew Syngrou Hospital - Photograph Album, c.1929 Arthur Purdy Stout Society of Surgical Pathologists, 1957-1992 Auchincloss, Hugh - "Report to the Surgical Department...," 1915 Babies Hospital Alumni Association - Records, 1927-2000 Babies Hospital - Case Records, 1932-1955 Babies Hospital - Historical Collection, 1887-1994 Babies Hospital - Patient Records, 1889-1929 Bakers Weekly - Press clippings: editorial campaign... Bellevue Hospital - Casebooks, 1866-1916 Bellows, Henry W. - Letters, 1861-1863 Bendixen, Henrik Holt - Papers, 1943-1998 Bernard, Viola Wertheim - Papers, 1918-2000 Bliss, Susan Dwight - Papers, 1926-1955 Bodecker, Charles F. - Papers, 1876-1970 Bogle, John - Papers, 1943-1946 Brewer, George - Scrapbook, 1903, 1913-1923 Calderone, Frank A. - Papers, 1911-1984 Champion, Moses - Letters, 1818-1819 Claman, Leoni Neumann - Papers, 1917, 1922-1924 Collegium der Ärzte der Deutschen Dispensary und Hospital (NY, NY), 1879-1882 Cosman, Bard - Plastic Surgery Case Reports, 1960-1962 Cournand, André - Papers, 1930-1983 Curtis, John G. - "Harvey's Views ..." c.1900 Davis, Elizabeth - Papers, 1949-1998 Dentist's Ledger and Casebook, 1854-1856. Dunning, William B. - Papers, 1881-1970 Elinson, Jack - Papers, 1917-2005 Eliot, Ellsworth Jr. - Operation Record Books, 1900-1912 Emerson, Haven - Papers, 1905-1965 Engle, Earl T. - Papers, 1896-1970 Evans, James M. - Account Book, c.1890-1901 Ewen McIntyre & Son (New York, N.Y.) - Prescription record books, 1863-1888 Experiment (Ship) - Register of Sick & Prescriptions, 1833-1834 Forbes, Henry Hall - Papers, c.1886-1890 Freud, Sigmund - Letters, 1921-1922 Freud, Sigmund - Totem und Tabu [manuscript, c.1912] Friedman, Emanuel - Papers, 1953-1989 Frühwald, Victor - Notebook and album, 1913-1930 Geddings, William H. - Casebooks, 1880-1894 Gies, William John - Collection, 1864-1958 Gill, Elizabeth - Papers, 1937-1968 Graham Family - Papers, 1773-1825. Greig, Alexander - Letters, 1826-1849 Hanway, Betty Nordstrom - Scrapbook, 1948-1951, 1970 Hawkins, Wilma Stevens - "Five Years in Syria," 1934-1939 Herman Knapp Memorial Hospital - Case Books, 1869-1939. Hillard, William Avery - Casebook, 1897-1903 Hilleboe, Herman - Papers, 1931-1968 Hodgkins, David Webb - Papers, 1820-1898 Hogan, Aileen I. - "Letters from Second General...," 1942-1945 Holt, L. Emmett - Patient Records, 1901-1923 Howe, Benjamin - Ledger, 1811-1822 Hunt, James Ramsay - Casebooks, 1903-1936 Jarvie, William - Papers, c.1856-1918 Jolliffe, Norman - Papers, 1901-1961 Lee, Frederic Schiller - Papers, 1867-1933 Lenz, Maurice - Papers, 1902-1977 Longitudinal Harlem Adolescent Health Study - Records, 1967-1999 Maternity Center Association - Records, 1907-1997 May, Charles H. - Papers, 1883-1966 McIntosh, Rustin - Papers, 1932-1974 Merritt, Houston H. - Papers, 1917-1979 Meyer, Karl - Papers, 1932-1992 Montmarquet, Joseph Didier - Papers, 1887-1907 Natanson, David M. - Papers, 1906-1966 Neurological Institute - Patient Records, 1909-1940 New York Orthopaedic Hospital - Patient Records, 1870-1950 Opler, Marvin Kaufmann - Papers, 1915-1979 Orton, Samuel T. and June Lyday - Case Files, 1928-1977 Orton, Samuel T. and June Lyday - Papers, 1901-1977 Pharmacist's Prescription Record Book (NY, NY), 1887-1888 Pharmacy of St. Paul (Bologna, Italy) - Record Book, 1588-1616 Potter, Howard - Autobiography Presbyterian Hospital (NY, NY) - Autopsy Reports, 1872-1911, 1917-1919 Presbyterian Hospital (NY, NY) - Patient Records, 1872-c.1970s Presbyterian Hospital (NY, NY) - Surgical casebooks, 1875-1896, 1905-1915 Presbyterian Hospital (NY, NY), Surgical Pathology Lab - Albums, c.1915-c.1933 Prichard, Elizabeth R. - History of social work at Presbyterian Hospital, 1904-1980 Riley, Henry Alsop - Papers, 1908-1963 Seguin, E. C. - Estate Records, 1898. Severinghaus, Aura E. - Papers, 1910-1979 Silva-Hutner, Margarita - Medical Mycology Laboratory Collection, 1929-1994 Simers, William L. - Daybook and scrapbook, 1798-1810 Sloane Hospital for Women - Patient Records, 1888-1928 Smith, Harry Pratt - Papers, 1941-1959 Stout, Arthur Purdy - Collection of Tumor Literature, c.1906-1962 Stout, Arthur Purdy - Papers, 1885-1985 Taylor, Howard C. - History of the Int'l Inst. Study Human Repro.,1953-1968 Timme, Walter - Papers, 1907-1939, 1945-1947. Townsend, Peter S. - Casebook, 1817-1819 Townsend, Peter S. - Daily register..., 1847 Tuttle, George Montgomery - Casebooks, 1895-1909 U.S. Base Hospital #2 - "The Dooins," 1917-1918 Vanderbilt Clinic - Patient Records, 1914-1928 Vivisection Papers, 1875-1947 Vivisection Scrapbooks, 1908, 1910-1914, 1920-1921, 1923 Wadsworth, Augustus B. - Papers, 1897-1916 Webster, Jerome P. - Collection of Plastic Surgery Reprints, c.1907-c.1976 Webster, Jerome P. - Papers, 1545-1975. Yahr, Melvin D. - L-dopa Case Records, c.1930-c.1985

Presbyterian Hospital was established in 1868 by philanthropist and book collector James Lenox who intended that the new hospital accept all patients “without regard to race, creed, or color.”  It opened in October 1872 on a site bounded by Madison and Park Avenues, 70th and 71st Streets.  Presbyterian affiliated with Columbia University in 1911 to form the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, which opened in 1928 in Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood.

In 1925, Presbyterian Hospital took control of Sloane Hospital for Women and the Vanderbilt Clinic and affiliated with Babies Hospital and the Neurological Institute of New York, all of which relocated to the Columbia-Presbyterian campus in 1928-1929.  In 1945, the New York Orthopaedic Hospital merged with Presbyterian and moved to the Medical Center five years later. 

Presbyterian Hospital and New York Hospital merged on Dec. 31, 1997 to form New York-Presbyterian Hospital.

SCOPE AND CONTENT :

An incomplete set of records of patients treated at Presbyterian Hospital.  The 1872-1915 casebooks contain medical cases only; surgical cases were bound separately. During this period, a new record was created for the patient upon each admission. With the introduction of the unit record system in 1916, information on medical and surgical treatment provided to a patient during all admissions to the hospital was filed under the same unit number. 

Content varies tremendously over the century documented here.  Older records generally have less information than newer ones.  As the 20th century progressed, basic information about medical treatment is supplemented with temperature charts, laboratory and radiology reports, nurses’ and social workers’ notes, photographs, and x-rays.

ORGANIZATION:

For 1872-1905, casebooks are in chronological order by date of admission.  From 1906 to 1912, they are arranged by disease according to the Bellevue Nomenclature of Disease (“Bellevue Classification”) and then chronologically by admission date.  In 1912, the Bellevue system was dropped and the casebooks were arranged consecutively by case number which generally followed date of admission.

On Jan. 1, 1916, Presbyterian became the first large U.S. hospital to institute the “unit record system” where patients received a permanent unit number under which all records of their treatment were retained. 

ACCESS:

Because the records include Protected Health Information (PHI) as defined by the US Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), access is allowed only under the terms of Archives and Special Collections’ Access Policy to Records Containing Protected Health Information.

Because of staff constraints and the lack of a name index, Archives & Special Collections cannot search for individual records.  Microfilm of much of Presbyterian’s post-1928 patient records are held by the New York-Presbyterian Hospital Dept. of Health Information Management and persons wishing to locate the records of individuals should contact them at: http://www.nyp.org/guide/info/medical.html?

Boxed records are stored off-site and will take 1-2 days to retrieve. Researchers must call in advance to use the collection.

RELATED RECORDS:

Presbyterian Hospital surgical casebooks, 1875-1896, 1905-1915 (301 volumes) have been cataloged separately.

PROVENANCE:

Gift of the New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Dept. of Health Information Management, 2000 (acc. #2000.07.05; #2000.08.24); gift of John Loeb, M.D., 2004 (acc. #2004.11.09);.

SUBJECTS:

Hospital patients – New York (State) – New York.

Hospitals – New York (State) – New York.

Medicine – Practice – United States – 19th century.

Medicine – Practice – United States – 20th century.

Presbyterian Hospital (New York, N.Y.)

Medical records.

NYPresbyterian Hospital.

Processed by Henry Blanco and finding aid written by Stephen Novak, 2006.

I.  Case Books: Chronological

v.1             1872 – 1875                                              

v.2             7/1875 – 2/1877                     

v.29           8/12/1891 –  8/31/1891       

v.68           9/28/1895 – 10/31/1895      

v.88           4/22/1897 – 5/29/1897        

v.100        2/7/1898 – 3/7/1898              1101-1200             

v.119        6/19/1899 – 7/15/1899         3001-3100

v.163        5/11/1902 –  6/[ ]/1902          7401-7500

v.209        11/14/1905 – 12/31/1905    12001-12100

II.  Case Books: Bellevue Classification

(all volumes date from Jan. 1, 1906 to April 1, 1912)

v.1             Diseases of the Blood:                                                                                

Anaemia, Progressive, Pernicious

Chlorosis

Splenic Anaemia, Chronic

Anaemia, Secondary, Pernicious

Leukaemia

Polycythemia

v.4             Diseases of the Circulatory System:                                                                       

Heart:

Congenital Malformation of the Heart

Endocarditis

v.5             Diseases of the Circulatory System:                                                                       

Heart: 

Aneurysm, Cardiac

Dilation, Cardiac

Fatty Heart

Hypertrophy, Cardiac

Myocarditis

v.6             Valvular Disease:                                                                                                           

Cardiac Clinic, v.1

Cases 1-80: 3 Jan 1906 – 5 Apr 1907

v.13           Diseases of the Circulatory System:                                                                       

Heart, Cont.:

Pericardium

Veins

v.14           Diseases of the Digestive System:                                                         

Intestines:

Appendicitis

Appendicular Colic

v.15           Diseases of the Digestive System:                                                         

Intestines:

Colitis, Enteritis, Gastroduoentitis

v.16           Diseases of the Digestive System:                                                         

Intestines:

Enterocolitis

v.17           [Diseases of the Digestive System:]                                                                       

Gastroenteritis, v.1

Cases 1-100: 21 Jan 1906 – 23 Jan 1910

v.19           Diseases of the Digestive System:                                                         

Intestines, Cont.

v.20           Diseases of the Digestive System:                                                         

Liver: 

Abscess of Liver

Atrophy of Liver

Cirrhosis of Liver

Fatty Liver

v.21           [Diseases of the Digestive System:]                                                                       

Neoplasm of Liver

Diseases of Gall Bladder & Ducts

v.22           Diseases of the Digestive System:                                                         

Mouth:     

Pharynx

Salivary Glands

Teeth

Tongue

Tonsils

Tonsilar Abscess

Oeosophagus

v.25           Diseases of the Digestive System:                                                         

Gastritis, Acute, Catarrhal

Gastritis, Chronic, Catarrhal

v.26           Diseases of the Digestive System:                                                         

Stomach:

Hematemesis

Neoplasm of Stomach

v.27           Diseases of the Digestive System:                                                         

Stomach:

Antony, Gastric

Spasm, Gastric

Achylia Gastrica

Nervous Dyspepsia

Gastraglia

Vomiting, Recurrent

v.35           Infective Diseases:                                                                                                         

Malarial Fever, Cases 101-174

Malarial Cachexia

Measles

Mumps

Scarlet Fever

Tetanus

Varicellar

Whooping Cough

v.36           [Infective Diseases:]                                                                                                       

Rheumatic Fever, Acute, v.1

Cases 1-80: 7 Jan 1906 – 24 Jul 1907

v.41           Infective Diseases:                                                                                                         

Rheumatic Fever, Acute, Cases 311-335

Rheumatic Fever, Sub-Acute, Cases 101-167

Pyaemia, Tuberculosis of

Septicaemia, Tuberculosis of

v.47           Infective Diseases:                                                                                                         

Syphilis, Acquired

Syphilis, Congenital

v.56           Infective Diseases:                                                                                                         

Typhoid Fever, Cases 731-751

Typhus Fever

Tuberculosis, Acute, General

v.57           Diseases of the Kidneys:                                                                            

Miscellaneous Diseases of the Kidneys

v.63           Diseases of the Kidneys:                                                                            

Nephritis, Chronic

Interstitial, Cases 361-391

Nephritis, Acute

v.69           [Miscellaneous Diseases]                                                                           

Diabetes Insipidus

Diabetes Mellitus

v.74           Diseases of the Nervous System:                                                           

Meningitis, Cerebral, Cases [101]-140

Miscellaneous Diseases of the Brain

v.77           Diseases of the Nervous System:                                                           

Neurasthenia, Cases 100-122

Hysteria

Idiocy

Imbecility

Stupor Mental

Meniere's Disease

Neuralgia

v.78           Diseases of the Nervous System:                                                           

Neuritis Local

Neuritis Multiple

Paralysis of Nerve Zoster

Locomotor Ataxia

v.79           Diseases of the Nervous System:                                                           

Miscellaneous Diseases of the Spinal Cord

v.81           Poisonings and Intoxications:                                                                                    

Alcoholic Cerebral Oedema

Alcoholic Delirium

Alcoholism

Gastritis, Toxic, Alcoholic

Lead Poisoning

v.82           Poisonings and Intoxications:                                                                                    

Miscellaneous

v.83           Diseases of the Respiratory System:                                                                     

Miscellaneous Diseases of the Bronchi and Trachea

v.85           Diseases of the Respiratory System:                                                                     

Bronchitis, Acute, Cases 101-184

Bronchitis, Chronic

v.86           [Diseases of the Respiratory System:]                                                 

Pneumonia, Broncho, v.1

Cases 1-100, 12 Jan 1906 – 14 Mar 1909

v.88           [Diseases of the Respiratory System:]                                                 

Pneumonia, Lobar, v.1

Cases 1-128: 31 Jan 1905 – 31 Dec 1906

v.98           Diseases of the Respiratory System:                                                                     

Miscellaneous Diseases of the Lungs

v.99           [Diseases of the Respiratory System:]                                                 

Tuberculosis, Chronic, Pulmonary, v.1

Cases 1-100, 3 Jan 1906 – 6 Feb 1908

v.102        Diseases of the Respiratory System:                                                                     

Miscellaneous Diseases of Naso-Pharynx and Pleura

v.104        Diseases of the Respiratory System:                                                                     

Pleurisy:

Sero-Fibrinous, Cases 81 – 176

Chronic, Fibrinous

v.105         Spleen; Cross-reference; Diseases of the Mind

v.106        Gynecological Cases          

v.107        Gynecological Cases                                                                                                    

v.108        Surgical Diseases:                                                                                                         

Diseases of Bone

Ear and Eye Gangrene

v.110        Surgical Diseases:                                                                                                         

Injuries

Lymphadenitis

Skin Diseases

v.111        Surgical Diseases:                                                                                                         

Neoplasms

III.  Case Books (Chronological)

1st Div, v.1                                  4/1/1912 – 5/24/1912                              Case # 8185-8300

1st Div, v.21, pt.2                       11/2/1914 – 11/27/1914                         Case # 12251-12300

1st Div, v [ ]                                 12/20/1915 – 12/31/1915                       Case # 16151-16215

2nd Div, v.11                               7/1/1913 – 8/15/1913                             Case # 11601-11700

IV. Case records (unit record system)

Box               Case Nos.                                        Dates

                  Records bound in booklets

1                30001 – 30067                       12/15/1915 – 12/20/1915

2                30068 – 37162                        12/22/1915 – 1/22/1918

3                44131 – 52670                        3/26/1919 – 1/25/1922

4                52675 – 58354                        1/25/1922 – 6/27/1923

5                58365 – 65622                        11/3/1923 – 4/23/1926

6                65625 – 68266                        4/23/1926 – 3/15/1927

7                68267 – 69692                        3/15/1927 – 9/2/1927

8                69695 – 71047                        9/3/1927 – 4/5/1928

9                71048 – 72496                        4/5/1928 – 7/7/1928

10              72497 – 74327                        7/8/1928 – 9/13/1928

11              74331 – 76208                        9/13/1928 – 11/11/1928

12              76300 – 79126                        11/14/1928 – 2/6/1929

13              79127 – 81468                        2/6/1929 – 4/16/1929

14              81652 – 84262                        4/27/1929 – 7/2/1929

15              84287 – 86399                        7/2/1929 – 9/25/1929

Box               Case Nos.                                                 Dates

                  Records Numbered by Date of Admission

16              642205 – 665551                                    4/3/1941 – 2/11/1942

17              670660 – 674997                                    3/27/1942 – 5/8/1942

18              674998 – 683742                                    5/8/1942 – 7/24/1942

19              683763 – 689864                                    7/24/1942 – 10/7/1942

20              689935 – 694921                                    10/7/1942 – 11/21/1942

21              694991 – 699453                                    12/2/1942 – 1/29/1943

22              699597 – 704867                                    2/4/1943 – 4/5/1943

23              704868 – 709149                                    4/5/1943 – 5/22/1943

24              709150 – 713693                                    5/22/1943 – 6/20/1943

25              713825 – 716791                                    6/24/1943 – 7/22/1943

26              716805 – 721696                                    7/22/1943 – 10/12/1943

27              721701 – 726452                                    9/10/1943 – 11/10/1943

28              726453 – 753308                                    11/10/1943 – 7/14/1944

29              753490 – 771134                                    8/2/1944 – 1/17/1945

30              771135 – 791003                                    1/17/1945 – 6/19/1945

31              791066 – 824875                                    6/25/1945 – 4/9/1946

32              824876 – 862828                                    4/9/1946 – 3/24/1947

Box                                                                                  Case Nos.                                       

                   Records Last Updated in the 1960s and 1970s

33                                                                                     023 07 32 – 051 88 44

34                                                                                     054 36 52 – 058 88 57

35                                                                                     059 10 12 – 066 62 62

36                                                                                     066 63 22 – 078 45 78

37                                                                                     078 45 94 – 083 08 69

38                                                                                     083 09 22 – 084 12 16

39                                                                                     084 12 32 – 084 88 51

40                                                                                     084 89 60 – 085 86 63