Establishment of the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center

The New York Nursery and Child's Hospital was founded in 1910, through the consolidation of the Nursery and Child's Hospital and New York Infant Asylum. Buildings were maintained at Lexington Avenue and 51st Street, and at Amsterdam Avenue and 61st Street, until 1913, when the Amsterdam branch was expanded and the Lexington branch was closed.

The Nursery for the Children of Poor Women opened in 1854 on St. Mark's Place, specifically to care for the children of wet-nurses and of parents who worked away from home during the day. Originally, its purpose was to aid "worthy" working women, and proof of marriage and good character of the mother were required for admission of her children. Rates charged were a percentage of the mother's income, and any child not picked up at the end of the day was sent to the city's Alms House.

The New York Infant Asylum opened its doors at 106th Street in 1865, to provide care for foundlings and abandoned children. By 1871, when it moved to 24 Clinton Place, its function had expanded to include a lying-in department and child-care training for mothers. By 1873, most of the asylum was moved to 61st Street and Amsterdam Avenue, leaving only a House of Reception downtown, which closed in 1879. The first country branch of the asylum opened in Flushing in 1872 and existed until 1881, with a second opening in Mount Vernon in 1878.

The New York Hospital has always recognized the importance of training nurses. In 1799, Dr. Valentine Seaman founded a course of training for nurses, that continued until his death in 1817. In 1877, shortly after New York Hospital moved to West 15th Street, the New York Hospital Training School for Nurses was established. Upon joining the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center in 1932, the name was changed to the New York Hospital School of Nursing. The school then became the Cornell University-New York Hospital School of Nursing, a unit of Cornell University, in 1942.