Mount Sinai Hospital

In Hartford, as elsewhere in the early part of the 20th Century, Jewish physicians were barred from practicing at most hospitals. This wide spread “gentleman’s agreement” kept Jewish doctors out of the network of referrals, and forced them to put their patients on admittance waiting lists until a gentile colleague could take over. This situation created substantial financial hardships for the physicians.

Once admitted to Gentile-run hospitals Jewish patients faced language barriers and lack of access to kosher food. Moreover, the wide spread discrimination in the medical profession meant that Jewish interns had difficulty obtaining training. To correct this situation locally, a group of concerned physicians and citizens established an association in 1918 called "The Abraham Jacobi Hospital."

Although an option to purchase land for the hospital was obtained from the Keney Estate at the corner of Love Lane and Westland Street, the war delayed progress on the hospital for several years. In 1922, the association changed its name to Mt. Sinai Hospital and purchased the Morgan Brainard mansion at 119 Capitol Avenue. The first hospital facility opened in 1923 with 75 beds.

Another problem faced by Jews was the difficulty of getting nurses to visit Jewish patients. In 1925, Mt. Sinai opened a nursing school to address this need. The school closed in 1936.

In 1940, Mt. Sinai was able to obtain the former Hebrew Home for Children building on Blue Hills Avenue. It began a campaign to remodel and expand the site, but progress was again delayed by war until 1950.

By the mid-1960s, Jewish residents were leaving the North End of Hartford in large numbers and moving to West Hartford and Bloomfield. Most other Jewish institutions followed their constituents, but Mt. Sinai continued to commit itself to its neighborhood and it expanded. This choice, though beneficial for the Hartford community as a whole, was nearly disastrous for the hospital.

As the income-per-capita of the surrounding area declined, the percentage of Mt. Sinai's unreimbursed medical care rose dramatically. Though Hartford Hospital and St. Francis Hospital contributed funds to cut the shortfall, Mt. Sinai's financial problems grew more and more severe each year. In the late 1980s, Mt. Sinai started exploring opportunities to merge with another hospital. Mt. Sinai and St. Francis affiliated in 1990 and formally merged, under the name of St. Francis, in 1995.