Rome Hospital opened in 1884 as a small cottage hospital.[1] Dr. Thomas M. Flandrau and his wife, Clarissa Foote Flandrau, are credited as establishing the hospital when it was found that there were no facilities to treat the injured after a railroad accident. Passing trains caused the small building to vibrate, and in 1887 a new hospital was built on East Garden Street. A nursing school was added in 1905.[2]
In 1920 a bequest from James A. Murphy led to the founding of a second hospital in the city, Murphy Memorial Hospital. It provided surgical services and treated patients with contagious diseases. In 1929 Murphy Memorial became a maternity hospital.[2]
In 1940 the city combined the two hospitals with a new building at its current location and called it Rome hospital & Murphy Memorial Hospital.[3] In 1976, the Bartlett Wing was added, named in honor of Dr. Robert L. Bartlett. In 1994, the city transferred ownership to a private, not-for-profit corporation, Rome Memorial Hospital.[4]
In 2017 Rome Memorial became an affiliate of St. Joseph's Health for easier access to specialty care; it retains its own separate identity.[5]
In 2018, Rome Memorial was one of seventeen upstate hospitals to take part in a pilot program to reduce the use of opioids in their emergency departments.[6]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, their primary vaccination period for the first of two shots required was from late December 2020 thru mid January 2021.[7][8] As COVID-19 cases continued to climb, Rome Memorial expressed its gratitude for the many donations of supplies received from the community.[9]
As of 2020, Rome Memorial Hospital had 129 acute care beds, as well as accommodation for 80 residents in its skilled nursing facility; it serves about 6,000 patients a year.[4]
In 2021 Rome Memorial Hospital adopted Rome Health as its new name to more accurately reflect the scope of services provided.[10][11]
