From the very beginning, the spirit of community, self-improvement, and activism that brought 999 families together to form the Industrial Home Association that founded Mount Vernon, NY, in 1851 has been a guiding principle of  Mount Vernon Hospital. When an injured New Haven Railroad employee died en route by horse-drawn wagon to a New York City hospital 18 miles away in the late 1880s, Mount Vernon’s citizens sprang into action, raising the funds necessary to open a six-bed facility on January 1, 1891, in a rented building at Valentine Street and Seventh Avenue.

Following Mount Vernon’s incorporation as a city in 1892, plans were drawn and one year later a cornerstone was laid for a new hospital. The facility was constructed as an annex to the original building and opened in 1894. The hospital’s School of Nursing opened in 1901. By 1910, Mount Vernon was a bustling metropolis of more than 30,000. It was evident that the hospital had to grow to meet demand for its services. The center wing was opened in 1912, and the south wing in 1924. Mount Vernon continued to prosper, reaching a population of 61,000 by 1929. Expansion again was necessary. The three-story north wing was constructed in 1930, and three additional floors were added in 1939.

In the years between 1939 and 1955, hospital admissions had increased 99 percent, and surgery, nursing care, and other services showed increases in excess of 46 percent. In response, Mount Vernon’s citizens again rallied to the cause, and construction began on the six-story west wing, which opened in 1956. Nine years later in 1965, the School of Nursing expanded, adding residential and educational facilities to accommodate more than 100 students.

As medical technology became an essential component of health care delivery, MVH constructed the tower wing in 1976 in order to offer these new technology-based diagnostic and treatment services. In 1997, MVH affiliated with Sound Shore Medical Center of Westchester (SSMC) to create the Sound Shore Health System (SSHS), one of the largest private healthcare systems located between New York City and Albany. MVH today is a 196-bed facility that provides easily accessible in-patient, critical care, and ambulatory services to residents of Mount Vernon and neighboring communities. It is home to the Chronic Wound Treatment and Hyperbaric Center, the largest and most advanced program of its type in the Northeast, as well as to teaching programs in medicine, nursing, surgery, and podiatry.

In addition to Chronic Wound Treatment, MVH’s other centers of excellence are the Assertive Community Treatment Center (ACT), the Family Health and Wellness Center, the Hopfer School of Nursing, Hyperbaric Medicine, and Intensive Case Management. Relentless in its efforts to meet the community’s healthcare needs, MVH is in the midst of an ambitious re-design of its emergency facility and is developing new outreach strategies to enhance its community visibility and corporate giving activities.