From achieves of the Freeport Historical Society

Old-Time Hospitals in Freeport

Posted

Freeport Community Hospital was a 100-bed hospital planned for Freeport, but it never came to fruition. Developer Jacob Post suggested the hospital be built on Babylon Turnpike.  Hugo Stearns offered land in Stearns Park, but a hospital committee was unable to get a clear title for this site. A large tract of land for the hospital was bought in 1928 from Anthony D. Mariano by Uhe and Isidore Meyer. The site was located on Pleasant and Ellison Avenues in Roosevelt, close to the Freeport border.

The idea of establishing a Freeport hospital began to take shape in 1927, when the Village Board passed a resolution endorsing an organized appeal for the establishment of a local hospital; subsequently, aggressive fundraising took place. A year later, fundraising stalled and the project ceased.

Freeport Hospital (also referred to as the Freeport Sanitarium) was located at 267 South Ocean Avenue. Part of the hospital was the former home of James Dean, a mayor of the Village of Freeport. The home was later owned first by the Collier family, and then by the Phillips family.  The Lipman family purchased the house in 1929.  They were forced to sell it in the 1930s during the Great Depression.  The house became a private hospital in the 1940s.  Neighborhood and local government protests kept the hospital from becoming a treatment center for narcotic addictions in the late 1960s. 

In 1972, the hospital became a pioneer in the modern treatment of alcoholism, the only such treatment hospital in New York State.  Dr. Frank Herzlin, who persuaded the hospital board of trustees to allow him to use four beds to treat alcoholics, started this initiative. The Freeport Hospital had an international reputation.  In 1986, Herzlin was awarded an Icelandic knighthood.  The "Freeport Club" was an organization of Icelanders who sought treatment at the Freeport Hospital.

Financial and labor problems led to the closure of the Freeport Hospital.  In 1999, the Village of Freeport purchased the hospital and grounds for $650,000. Cooperative housing replaced the hospital around 2002.  The development is known as the Beechwood Commons.

Freeport Riverside Sanitarium was located at 387 South Grove Street. It opened in 1926.During its first year, 81 births took place, 76 operations were performed, 34 medical cases were treated, and first aid was provided for 21 accident victims. Nurses included Lena Dien and Mary Horn.

Freeport Sanitarium, referred as the Freeport Sanitarium and Maternity Institute, established in 1909 by Bertha Reiss, who served as the facilities' superintendent.  It was located on Rutland Road, near Grand Avenue (77 Rutland Road).  In 1918, Reiss was convicted and sentenced to a term of 24 months minimum, 42 months maximum in prison at Auburn, NY for performing an abortion.  Mrs. Frances Murphy of Lynbrook brought the charge against her.  In 1919, Governor Alfred E. Smith commuted her sentence to 11 months and 24 days minimum, 42 months maximum. In the 1920s, the name "Freeport Sanitarium" was used to refer to another medical facility located on South Ocean Avenue.  That facility was also called the Watson Sanitarium.

Lydia E. Hall Hospital was established in the 1950s as Doctors Hospital. It was located on West Merrick Road at the intersection of Washington Street.  It was designed to have between 115 to 150 beds.  The hospital's cornerstone was laid in March 1954 with Mayor William F. Glacken Sr. as the principal speaker. It was described as the most modern hospital in the New York area. The three wings of the hospital housed pediatrics, surgery, general medicine, obstetrics, pathology, X-ray, laboratory, five operating rooms, and anesthesiology departments.  Designed by Gloster and Gloster of Rockville Centre, the building featured a wood-paneled lobby lined with portraits of eminent scientists, and patients’ rooms were painted in warm colors.

In 1974 the hospital was renamed for nursing pioneer, Lydia Eloise Hall (1906-1969).  Hall founded the Loeb Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation at Montefiore Hospital in New York. Lydia E. Hall Hospital was famous for its eye surgery. Dr. Charles Kelman, who was a pioneer in cataract surgery, was associated with this hospital.

Over the years, staffing and financial issues plagued the hospital.  In the 1980s, Federal authorities investigated irregularities at the hospital. The hospital closed its doors in 1985.  The Village purchased the building for $310,000.  The hospital later became a nursing home and rehabilitation facility.

South Side Hospital (Southside Hospital) was opened on April 19, 1909 in a house leased on South Ocean Avenue.  It was described as having beautifully landscaped grounds and a spacious barn for an ambulance and horses.  The hospital was opened as a private sanitarium for the physicians along the south shore from Patchogue to Valley Stream. It had 30 to 40 beds.

The first patient of this institution was William Luyster of Hempstead.  Dr. Lanehart served as head physician and Miss Pix was head nurse.  Two other nurses included Miss Kelly and Miss Pearson.  George Howard Randall, Mrs. Edwin Carman, and Mrs. Bertha Knobel were active in fundraising for this institution. The South Side Hospital closed around 1910 after another hospital opened in Hempstead.

Watson Sanatorium opened in the 1920s and was located at 210 South Ocean Avenue (near Rose Street); Caroline Watson owned it.  This facility was also referred to as the Freeport Sanatorium but was not connected to another sanatorium with the same name located in north Freeport.