United Hospitals Medical Center Records; Guide to the

United Healthcare Systems, Inc. (formally United Hospitals Medical Center) was established in 1957. Four medical facilities of Newark comprised United Hospitals Medical Center: Presbyterian Hospital, Babies' Hospital (later Children's Hospital), the Hospital for Crippled Children, and the Newark Eye and Ear Infirmary. Later, the Eye Institute of New Jersey and the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation established affi liations.

Newark Eye and Ear Infirmary In 1880, Dr. Charles J. Kipp (1838-1911) founded the Newark Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary as a source of free medical treatment for Newark residents with eye and ear diseases. Dr. Kipp became the president of the American Ophthalmological Society in 1907 and the American Otological Society in1908. The Newark Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary occupied a private residence at High and Sterling Streets. Initially, generous members and philanthropists such as John Herbert Ballantine and the Clark, Frelinghuysen, and Murphy families funded the Infirmary. The Newark Charitable Eye and Ear received its first endowment of $50,000 in 1903. Five years later, the facility moved to 77 Central Avenue, where it stood until it merged into the United Hospitals Medical Center (UHMC) in 1957. Also in 1918, the Newark Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary simply became the Newark Eye and Ear Infirmary (NEEI).

In 1952 NEEI opened the first glaucoma clinic, the Visual Rehabilitation Center, in New Jersey, and in 1953 it established the Henry C. Barkhorn Memorial Speech and Hearing Center. Dr. Wells P. Eagleton (1865-1946), formerly a president of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology, further developed NEEI. Dr. Eagleton was well known for his work on the brain and mastoid regions, and his treatise on "Brain Abscess." Later, Dr. Richard Swain, a director of NEEI, fostered new ideas in teaching and residency programs.

In addition to training, research, and medical care, NEEI had a large nursing school and residence. In 1970, the Eye Institute of New Jersey was founded at NEEI for special services and research. Both NEEI and the Eye Institute served as primary teaching sites for the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey's (UMDNJ) residency training program in ophthalmology. See also MC/31 The Newark Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary, 1880-1982, for additional information; a finding aid is available.

Crippled Children's Hospital In 1892, Samuel A. Darrach conceived of a hospital especially for crippled children. Darrach, a maker of orthopedic braces, took an interest in the welfare of three injured children. He consulted with the Roseville Benevolent Society, a womens' group who did sewing for the poor. The Society rented a four-room flat at 66 South 8th Street. One year later, they rented another. In 1892 the Roseville Benevolent Society changed its name to the "Home for Crippled Children." A new facility was built at Park and Clifton Avenues, in 1897, through the efforts of John H. Ballantine and Dr. Fewsmith. The "Ballantine Building" was erected in 1908 at Park Avenue and Ridge Street. The organization reincorporated in 1925 as the "Hospital and Home for Crippled Children," and another brand new facility was built in 1926. The corporate name changed again in 1948 to the "Hospital for Crippled Children and Adults," which concentrated on bone surgery and also cared for paraplegic miners, paralyzed in undergroundaccidents.

In 1958 Crippled Children's joined United Hospitals and became known as United Hospitals Orthopedic Center. It maintained its goals of correcting deformities and reconstructing injured joints. It initiated a joint replacement program in 1970. Due to its success, the Orthopedic Center became well known across the east coast. The Center was the main orthopedic teaching hospital for UMDNJ. Additionally, in the 1980s Crippled Children's had the first bone bank in the state.

Babies' or Children's Hospital In 1896 Dr. Henry Leber Coit (1854-1917), a pioneer in American Pediatrics and the originator of certified milk, founded Babies' Hospital in Newark. He was assisted by Dr. Edward J. Ill (1854-1942), among others. Babies' Hospital occupied two adjoining buildings at High and Bank Streets. It was the first facility prepared to receive sick children under five years old. Dr. Kipp of the Newark Eye and Ear Infirmary became the President of Babies' first Board of Directors. The Hospital raised $560,000 in its 1928 building fund drive. The new facility and Nurses' Home at 15 Roseville Avenue opened in January 1930. It was formally named Babies' Hospital - Coit Memorial, in Dr. Coit's honor, after the Roseville reconstruction.

Children's Hospital was a complete diagnostic and treatment center for infants, children and adolescents. In 1980, Children's Hospital of Newark changed its name to Children's Hospital of New Jersey, reflecting its evolution into a statewide resource for the care of sick children. Together with UMDNJ and United Hospitals Medical Center, Children's Hospital provided New Jersey with excellent programs in pediatric teaching, service, and research.

Presbyterian Hospital Reverend A. N. Stubblebine, the pastor of Bethany Presbyterian Church, organized a sanitary milk dispensary health service near the church. In 1909 Reverend Davis Lusk developed the dispensary into a hospital, "Bethany Presbyterian Hospital," and became its first president. Officially named in May 1910, the "Presbyterian Hospital in Newark, New Jersey" was located in the Elias Ward Mansion on South 9th Street. It opened in 1912 with 24 beds. Dr. Samuel E. Robertson, lifelong advocate of an open hospital and originator of the Newark Anti-Tuberculosis Association, was Presbyterian's Medical Director from 1910 until his death in 1925. By 1919 the Hospital purchased six houses on South 9th St. to meet service demands. In 1926, the city condemned all six as fire risks. A new, six-story building with 300 beds opened on January 10, 1929.

Presbyterian was widely known for surgery of the abdominal tract, its Stevenson Cancer Clinic (est. 1959), and a speech clinic established by Dr. Henry B. Orton. The Hospital maintained its standards of excellence after the merger with United Hospitals. The first heart registry and the first closed heart surgery in New Jersey occurred at Presbyterian. In addition, the state's first moving heart motion pictures were taken there.

United Hospitals Medical Center Newark Eye and Ear Infirmary, The Hospital for Crippled Children and Adults, Children's Hospital and Presbyterian Hospital merged together in 1958 and became United Hospitals Medical Center of Newark. Each hospital retained its identity and special medical services. As Presbyterian was the largest of the four, the smaller three relocated to its vicinity. They were managed by a joint board, headed by Arthur Lunn, the president of Presbyterian. The heads of the other hospitals became vice presidents of the new United Hospitals of Newark. In this way, United Hospital consisted of four, nonprofit, acute care hospitals serving the residents of New Jersey and Newark, in particular. The four units included one general hospital (Presbyterian) and three specialty units (Newark Eye and Ear, Crippled Children's, and Children's Hospital). The Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation in West Orange became an affiliate of the United Hospitals in April 1959.

Three decades later, the United Hospitals Medical Center (UHMC) began to undergo a series of difficulties from which it would never recover. In 1989, four chiefs of the medical staff confronted UHMC president Dr. James R. Cowan, Jr. with allegations of graft and mismanagement. Cowan's resignation caused an internal power struggle between the two boards of trustees over control of United. The trustees of UHMC sued those of Careways, Inc., a corporation created by United to handle for-profit ventures, who claimed to be the chief governing power. The United trustees accused the other board of plotting to seize control of the community hospital and the $113 million Children's Hospital, which United had planned to build at UMDNJ-Newark. The problems halted temporarily when the acting administrator Ronald DiVito, Chairman of Careways, was accused of serious misconduct.

By 1989 United was loosing millions of dollars and borrowing critical supplies from other hospitals. Bernard Dickens, Sr., the new president, was assigned the task of recovering from an enormous deficit and replacing an administration charged with misconduct and misappropriation. A criminal investigation and indictment of Dr. Cowan began in December 1990. He was charged with accepting bribes, theft of hospital property, and corporate misconduct. In April 1991, he pled to one count of corporate misconduct and admitted to accepting bribes. He had to pay $100,000 in restitution to UHMC, and was sentenced to three years probation and 200 hours of community service.

A second inner struggle ensued, but this time it occurred between Dickens and another newly appointed administrator, Bernard Rabinowitz. Rabinowitz, UHMC Chairman, accused Dickens of moving too slowly to get the job done, and Dickens accused Rabinowitz of interfering. Dickens was terminated for "marginal performance" in 1991. By 1993, the new health care reforms in New Jersey, which deregulated hospital rates, threatened hospitals like UHMC with high Medicaid payments.

United Hospitals Medical Center became the United Healthcare System (UHS) in May 1995, when a partnership between United and St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston began. The 449-bed facility was composed of the United Medical Center, United-The Children's Hospital of New Jersey and the United Family Health Centers (offsite clinics located in five Newark neighborhoods). In October 1995, OSHA penalized UHS with $168,000 in serious violations of federal standards. By January 1997, UHS was $50 million in debt, and by March they had claimed bankruptcy.

St. Barnabas Health Care System took over United and closed the Newark hospital. The patients were transferred and all jobs were eventually eliminated.