Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is a prominent university hospital in New York City, composed of two medical centers, Columbia University Medical Center and the Cornell University Weill Medical Center.

New York-Presbyterian Hospital was formed in 1998 with the merger of two large, previously independent hospitals, the New York Hospital and Presbyterian Hospital1. The NYPH system includes a variety of outlying hospitals that had previously been acquired by NYH or Presbyterian; these hospitals stretch throughout the five boroughs, Westchester County, Long Island and New Jersey. In the name of the hospital, there is no space in "NewYork." NYPH is now the largest private employer in New York City.

The two medical schools remain essentially autonomous, though there is increasing cooperation and coordination of clinical, research, and residency training programs. The hospitals, themselves, have merged administrations, with Herb Pardes, M.D., having led the hospital system since the merger.

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is one of the most comprehensive university hospitals in the world, with leading specialists in every field of medicine.

The institution's five main facilities are:
 * NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center
 * NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/ Weill Cornell Medical Center
 * The Allen Pavilion
 * Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian
 * NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Westchester Division

Awards and Recognition
As of 2007, the U.S. News and World Report rankings place NYPH overall as the sixth-best hospital in the United States. Every specialty was ranked by US News, and the following were ranked in the top 10: gynecology (5); heart and heart surgery (6); endocrinology (5); kidney disease (2); neurology and neurosurgery (3); urology (6); pediatrics (8); and psychiatry (4).

History
The New York Hospital was founded in 1771 by a Royal Charter granted by King George III of England and became associated with Weill Cornell Medical College upon the latter institution's founding in 1898. It was the second oldest hospital in the United States. A 1927 endowment of more than $20 million by Payne Whitney expanded the hospital significantly and the Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic is named in his honor. Other prominent donors include Howard Hughes, William Randolph Hearst, Harry and Leona Helmsley, Maurice R. Greenberg, and the Baker, Whitney, Lasdon, and Payson families.

The Presbyterian Hospital was founded in 1868 by James Lenox, a New York philanthropist and was associated with Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. In 1925 the Sloane Hospital for Women, a leader in obstetrics and gynecology that had been founded in 1886, was incorporated.

New York Hospital was the subject of a lawsuit from the family of Libby Zion, a young woman admitted in 1984 who died while under the care of hospital residents. An investigation by the New York state Health Commissioner, the Bell Commission, led to restrictions on the number of hours residents could work and required oversight of their care by accredited physicians. These reforms have since been adopted nationwide.

NewYork-Presbyterian Healthcare System
For more information, see NewYork-Presbyterian Healthcare System

The hospital, along with Weill Cornell Medical College and Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, runs the NewYork-Presbyterian Healthcare System, a network of independent, cooperating, acute-care and community hospitals, continuum-of-care facilities, home-health agencies, ambulatory sites, and specialty institutes in the New York metropolitan area.

NewYork-Presbyterian Emergency Medical Services
NewYork-Presbyterian Emergency Medical Services (NYP-EMS) is the largest hospital-based ambulance service in the City of New York. Since 1981, NYP-EMS has been one of the largest participants in the New York City 911 system. NYP-EMS also operates critical care transport ambulances throughout the New York City Metropolitan Area. The service is licensed to operate in the 5 counties of New York City, Westchester, Putnam, and Dutchess counties in New York, and in the state of New Jersey for Basic Life Support and Specialty Care Transport. In addition to providing emergency and non-emergency ambulance services, either through the New York City 911 system on through the NYP-EMS Communications Center at Weill Cornell Medical Center, NYP-EMS provides stand-by EMS services for events throughout the New York City area, including the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer and the NYC Triathlon.

NYP-EMS is also a New York State Department of Health-approved training center for EMT and Paramedic programs, several of which are approved for college-level credit by the New York State Department of Education. NYP-EMS operates one of the largest American Heart Association Emergency Cardiac Care training centers in New York.

NYP-EMS also maintains a Special Operations team trained in hazardous materials decontamination and technical rescue. This team, accompanied by several Weill Cornell Physicians, provided rescue and relief support on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Most recently, the team decontaminated 28 patients after the 2007 New York City steam explosion in Midtown Manhattan on July 18th, 2007.

Trivia
The following high-profile individuals have died at this hospital:
 * Civil Rights icon Malcolm X (1965)
 * Artist Andy Warhol (1987)
 * Puppeteer Jim Henson (1990)
 * Former United States President Richard Nixon (1994)
 * Musician Joey Ramone (2001)
 * For many years, heiress Sunny von Bülow was hospitalized there in a persistent vegetative state.