Hospital of St. Raphael

The Hospital of Saint Raphael or Saint Raphael Hospital, located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States, was a 511-bed community teaching hospital founded by the Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth in 1907. On September 12, 2012, Yale-New Haven Hospital acquired the assets of the Hospital of Saint Raphael, making it a single 1,541-bed hospital with two main campuses, and establishing Saint Raphael's as Yale-New Haven Hospital Saint Raphael Campus. St. Raphael's Hospital is an official branch of the hospital located in Faisalabad, Pakistan.

The Sisters came to New Haven to start the hospital at the request of a group of local physicians, led by Dr. William F. Verdi. The doctors asked the Sisters of Charity to administer a hospital that would be open to all members of the medical profession and would "receive and care for all patients without regard to race, creed or color; to extend charity to the sick and poor and needy." Saint Raphael's continues this mission today.

The name "Saint Raphael" was chosen for special reasons. Saint Raphael is not just a saint of the Catholic Church, but is one of the archangels recognized by many faiths. Translated from the Hebrew, Raphael means "God has healed." The archangel Raphael is revered as a patron of the sick and healing.

A 12-bed hospital was opened at 1442 Chapel Street in the Barnes Residence in 1907. The Barnes Residence was located next to the Grace Hospital. Almost immediately plans were developed to add more capacity and the Saint Mary Pavilion was built and opened in 1910. It was built next to the original building and had 135 beds. Saint Raphael opened a School of Nursing and forms its auxiliary.

In the 1910s, patient care became more sophisticated. Saint Raphael got its first X-ray machine, opened its first pharmacy, and acquired its first motorized ambulance.

In the 1920s Saint Raphael grows physically and clinically. It adds the Saint Rita's wing, opened a modern laboratory, and welcomed its first full-time anesthesiologist.

Sister Louise Anthony Geronemo arrived in 1935 as a novice Sister of Charity to train at the School of Nursing. She went on to serve Saint Raphael in a variety of roles over the next 62 years, including 22 years as hospital administrator.

In 1940, the hospital broke ground on a $1,250,000 addition. With a six story unit facing Chapel Street and five stories on Sherman Avenue, the bed capacity rose to 430. Saint Raphael opened a School of Medical Technology, one of the first in the nation. It established formal orthopedics, anesthesia, and outpatient departments. This was a training site for World War II U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps.

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