St John's Riverside Hospital

History

History
St Johns Riverside Hospital opened its doors as Westchesters first hospital in 1869 At that time approximately 14000 residents called Yonkers their home when a small dedicated committee of women from St Johns Episcopal Church opened the St Johns Invalid Home on Warburton and Ashburton Avenues to care for the poor of the parish in their time of sickness and misfortune Officially incorporated as a charitable institution in early 1870 St Johns became the first hospital in Westchester County

Demand increased quickly and the fledgling institution responded Later in 1870 St Johns moved to the Grove House on Woodworth Avenue and Locust Street to accommodate 30 beds In 1894 William and Eva Cochran donated buildings on Ashburton Avenue from Palisade Avenue to North Broadway and further increased the capacity to 100 beds What is today the oldest nursing school in the county the Cochran School of Nursing was established simultaneously

In 1896 the Cochran School graduated its first class They were the first nursing school graduates in Westchester County and among the first in the nation Today more than 100 years later we continue to offer the largest hospitalbased nursing school in Westchester That is the main reason why during an era of chronic nursing shortages we admitted in September 2003 the largest class of freshman in our 108year history

In 1959 with help from the Andrus family and the Surdna Foundation St Johns developed and built its present 14story 273bed Andrus Pavilion on North Broadway which offered the most comprehensive healthcare services available

It was a revolutionary advancement in first aid when St Johns introduced Westchesters first motorized ambulance in 1918 Today we continue to deliver cutting edge technology as Westchesters leader in quality health care St Johns was the first hospital in the greater New York metropolitan area to perform the ABBI breast biopsy procedure We were the first to use a new genetically engineered treatment for heart attack victims to prevent permanent heart damage To better meet community need we recently renovated and expanded our emergency department and rededicated it in honor of Iris and the late Marty Walshin whose contributions to the St Johns community are immeasurable Newborns at St Johns also benefit from the construction of our brand new hightech nursery

In 1994 St Johns Riverside Hospital affiliated with Yonkers General Hospital officially merged in 2001 and is now known as the ParkCare Pavilion We renovated the existing building and constructed the ParkCare Health Center which is an outpatient primary and specialty care center The Behavioral Health Services department Westchesters largest provider of alcoholism and substance abuse services is also headquartered at the ParkCare Pavilion

Also in 2001 we opened the Michael N Malotz Skilled Nursing Pavilion a 120bed skilled nursing and rehabilitation facility that additionally accommodates ventilator patients Construction of the nursing home began in 1999 after a longfocused effort of working with our community leaders environmental groups and the City of Yonkers