James J. Peters VA Medical Center

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James J. Peters VA Medical Centermap

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.

Quick Facts Geography, Location ...
James J. Peters VA Medical Center
Veterans Health Administration
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Left: chapel, and nursing home. Center: main facility. Right: research building.
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Geography
LocationFordham[1], The Bronx, New York, United States
Coordinates40°52′02″N 73°54′22″W
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: at Kingsbridge Road
at Kingsbridge Road
at Marble Hill–225th Street
New York City Bus: Bx3, Bx9, Bx22, Bx28, Bx32
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
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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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Perspective
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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
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Looking up the University Heights hill from the Bronx shoreline

See also

References

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