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History

We are delighted to share with you the Hospital’s history, its milestones and noteworthy achievements. During the nineteenth century, residents of the Rockaways and the South Shore of Long Island who required hospital care were obliged to make the long, difficult journey to Brooklyn or Manhattan. In 1905, a concerned committee of local residents appealed to the Roman Catholic Bishop of Brooklyn, the Right Reverend Charles E. McDonnell.

Bishop McDonnell turned to the Sisters of St. Joseph, who opened the Hospital on June 25, 1905, in the former Star of the Sea Academy. Patients who could afford it were charged one dollar a day. Serving the growing communities of the Rockaways and the Five Towns, the Hospital grew by leaps and bounds.

In 1976, at a critical juncture for healthcare services, and with the leadership and vision of the Right Reverend Jonathan G. Sherman, V Bishop of Long Island, the Church Charities Foundation, forerunner of Episcopal Health Services Inc., assumed stewardship of the facility, renaming it St. John’s Episcopal Hospital, and restoring the original sense of mission and direction.

In 1982, under the watch of the Right Reverend Robert C. Witcher, VI Bishop of Long Island, the Hospital constructed the $37 million Tower Building. Episcopal Health Services took the reins in 1987 and, under its leadership, the Hospital has made a great number of advances. The Hospital opened a fresh chapter of service at its centennial in 2005, it continues to offer excellent quality health care to its patients and looks ahead to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century.