We Heard the Call: American Ambulance Hospital

Several of our doctors and nurses served with the American Ambulance Hospital in Neuilly a suburb of Paris.  Americans in France who wanted access to medical care by American trained doctors formed the American Hospital of Paris in 1904.  In 1914, the hospital established the American Ambulance Hospital at the Lycee Pasteur School building in Neuilly, France.  They were the first foreign ambulance to be accepted by the French government to serve French soldiers in the war.  The hospital operated from 1914-1917. 

At the end of December 1914, Dr. Blake from New York City recruited volunteer nurses and doctors for one wing of the hospital.  He put a call out at the Presbyterian, The New York, and St Luke’s hospitals in New York as well as Johns Hopkins.  Three doctors and 25 nurses from The New York Hospital served at the hospital.  The chief of nursing was Marian Doane, an 1912 alumni.

In 1917, the American Red Cross took over the hospital, and it changed its name to Red Cross Hospital No 1.  This hospital served both American and French soldiers.