** History **
St. John's Riverside Hospital opened its doors as Westchester's first hospital in 1869. At that time, approximately 14,000 residents called Yonkers their home when a small, dedicated committee of women from St. John's Episcopal Church opened the St. John's 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. John's became the first hospital in Westchester County.
Demand increased quickly and the fledgling institution responded. Later, in 1870, St. John's 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 hospital-based 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 108-year history.
In 1959, with help from the Andrus family and the Surdna Foundation, St. John's developed and built its present 14-story, 273-bed Andrus Pavilion' on North Broadway, which offered the most comprehensive healthcare services available.
It was a revolutionary advancement in first aid when St. John's introduced Westchester's first motorized ambulance in 1918. Today we continue to deliver cutting edge technology as Westchester's leader in quality health care. St. John's 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 re-dedicated it in honor of Iris and the late Marty Walshin, whose contributions to the St. John's community are immeasurable. Newborns at St. John's also benefit from the construction of our brand new high-tech nursery.
In 1994, St. John's 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, Westchester's largest provider of alcoholism and substance abuse services is also head-quartered at the ParkCare Pavilion.
Also in 2001, we opened the Michael N. Malotz Skilled Nursing Pavilion, a 120-bed skilled nursing and rehabilitation facility that additionally accommodates ventilator patients. Construction of the nursing home began in 1999 after a long-focused effort of working with our community leaders, environmental groups and the City of Yonkers.
