Smilow Cancer Hospital

The Smilow Cancer Hospital is a 14 story building, part of Yale New Haven Hospital. It is considered a state of the art facility for oncological treatment and research. The building itself is a postmodernist sustainable architecture, that is connected to other medical pavilions as part of the medical complex situated around South Frontage Road. The Smilow Center is part of Yale New Haven Hospital’s efforts to provide more centralized oncological care and continues the standing tradition of building excellency in medical care within New Haven.

Since its inception, the building has been exclusively used by Yale New Haven Hospital as a center for cancer research and treatment, as well as a training facility for future oncologists[1].

[1] High Profile. Smilow Cancer Hospital Completed – Designed by Shepley Bulfinch. https://www.high-profile.com/smilow-cancer-hospital-completed-designed-by-shepley-bulfinch/

The landscape surrounding the Smilow Center was significantly different in the early 19^th century. The 1901 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map as well as the 1923 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map show that on the original lot situated between Davenport Avenue, Howard Avenue and Park Street resided a St. John’s Catholic Church and St. John’s Catholic School (Figure 5). The church was built in 1858 and the lot surrounding it was used as a cemetery as well[1]. During the construction of the Smilow Center the unnamed graves were uncovered and their discovery halted the construction of the project for a short while[2]. According to the Archdiocese of New Haven, the property was bought by Yale New Haven Hospital in 1969[3]. The 1973 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map confirms this as by 1973 the lot is only occupied by a new, Yale School of Nursing building (Figure 6). The lot continued to be developed by Yale New Haven Hospital, with the hospital extending between South Frontage Road, Park Street, Howard Avenue and York Street (Figure 7)[4]. In 2005, Yale New Haven Hospital was scheduled to demolish the Grace Building to make room for the Smilow Center; however this was delayed by disagreements with city officials. Construction only began in 2006, finishing in 2010[5].

[1] Archdiocese of Hartford. Merged and Closed Parishes. http://archdioceseofhartford.org/merged-and-closed-parishes/

[2] McLoughlin, Pamela. Historians, scientists unraveling mystery of 'forgotten' New Haven cemetery. New Haven Register. December 17, 2011. https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/Historians-scientists-unraveling-mystery-of-11574573.php

[3] Archdiocese of Hartford. Merged and Closed Parishes. http://archdioceseofhartford.org/merged-and-closed-parishes/

[4] Revolvy. Grace-New Haven Hospital. https://www.revolvy.com/main/index.php?s=Grace-New%20Haven%20Hospital&item_type=topic

[5] Revolvy. Grace-New Haven Hospital. https://www.revolvy.com/main/index.php?s=Grace-New%20Haven%20Hospital&item_type=topic

Although the most recent addition to the Yale New Haven Hospital, the Smilow Cancer Center is part of a great expansion of medical services, research and education efforts that have started in the early years of the 19^th century[1]. The first hospital to open in New Haven was also the United States’ fifth general Hospital. The building opened to the public in 1833 as mainly a charity organization. The project itself took a long time to come to fruition, given the small size of the town of New Haven and its implicit difficulties in gathering the funds necessary to open a hospital. It was built on the plot of land bordered by Cedar Street and Howard Avenue – the lot right next to the future location of the Smilow Center (Figure 6)[2]. Post-Civil War America saw a growth in hospitals that was reflected in the rapid expansion of the New Haven Hospital towards the end of the 19th century[3]. In 1889, Grace Hospital, a separate homeopathic medical institution was founded[4]. Later, in 1945, Grace Hospital would merge with New Haven Hospital to form the Grace New Haven Hospital, which subsequently would become Yale-New Haven Hospital in 1965[5]. Over the years, the hospital would see many firsts, from the first artificial heart pump in the United States to the first intensive care unit for newborns[6]. Within this historical context of medical progress and excellency evident at Yale New Haven Hospital, Smilow Cancer Hospital seems a natural step towards striving for the same kind of excellence in oncological treatment.

[1] New Haven’s Hospitals. Beginnings of the Hospital. http://doc1.med.yale.edu/news/exhibits/hospitals/beginnings.html

[2] New Haven’s Hospitals. Beginnings of the Hospital. http://doc1.med.yale.edu/news/exhibits/hospitals/beginnings.html

[3] New Haven’s Hospitals. Late Nineteenth-Century Expansion and the Founding of Grace Hospital. http://doc1.med.yale.edu/news/exhibits/hospitals/expansion.html

[4] New Haven’s Hospitals. Late Nineteenth-Century Expansion and the Founding of Grace Hospital. http://doc1.med.yale.edu/news/exhibits/hospitals/expansion.html

[5] Yale New Haven Health. Milestones. https://www.ynhh.org/about/hospital-overview/history-heritage/milestones.aspx

[6] Yale New Haven Health. Milestones. https://www.ynhh.org/about/hospital-overview/history-heritage/milestones.aspx

The building is part of a larger section of New Haven that belongs to the Yale New Haven Hospital – situated between South Frontage Road, Davenport Avenue, Howard Avenue and York Street. Across from the Smilow Center stands the Connecticut Medical Health Center. Several wings of the Yale New Haven Hospital as well as a research center extend over neighboring lots. The Center is the most recent facility in this medical complex to have been built and aims to serve as a more compact manner of treating cancer within the Yale New Haven Hospital[1]. The outward impression of the area is that of modern facilities, with little traffic, conveying both modernity and efficiency (Figure 4).

[1] High Profile. Smilow Cancer Hospital Completed – Designed by Shepley Bulfinch. https://www.high-profile.com/smilow-cancer-hospital-completed-designed-by-shepley-bulfinch/