Nurses play a critical role in the care of hospital patients, but their work often goes unrecognized. On Untapped New York’s exclusive new Nursing Tour of Ellis Island’s Abandoned Hospital, presented in partnership with Save Ellis Island, we spotlight the dedicated healthcare professionals who tended to early 20th-century immigrants passing through on their way to a new life in America. This hard hat tour will take you through various abandoned wards and rooms inside Ellis Island’s sprawling 122-year-old hospital complex.
Nursing Tour Inside Ellis Island‘s Abandoned Hospital
Measles, tuberculosis, and influenza were just a few of the maladies treated at the Ellis Island hospital from its opening in 1902 until it was abandoned in the 1950s. This tour focuses on the healthcare professionals who cared for immigrants while quarantined and provides insight into the state-of-the-art medical facilities.
As you walk through paint-chipped halls and various empty wards, you’ll learn how Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, influenced the construction of the hospital. Her designs helped to limit the spread of diseases and reduce mortality rates. Inside the laundry building, where large machines sit rusting with time, you’ll find out what life was like for patients and the people who cared for them. Guests on this tour will have access to contagious disease wards, an autopsy room, staff houses, and more typically off-limits spaces.
Throughout the hospital complex, life-sized historic photographs of Ellis Island immigrants are pasted on the walls, windows, floors, and furniture. These installations, part of the exhibition “Unframed” by the world-renowned artist JR, will be on view as you explore.
This exclusive tour is led by one of Save Ellis Island’s veteran guides, Denise Giachetta-Ryan. Denise is a former CUNY professor and Chair of the Department of Nursing. She has also served as Assistant Vice President of Perioperative Services at two New York City hospitals.
Join us on June 22nd!
Nursing Tour Inside Ellis Island‘s Abandoned Hospital
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