From its humble roots to today’s nationally-recognized hospital, Morristown Medical Center’s commitment to the health of the community has been proven over the past 125 years.
2017 – A Year of Giving
In 2017, Morristown Medical Center – a nationally-ranked hospital in Morristown, New Jersey – celebrates 125 years of providing high-quality care to the communities it serves.
Prior to its existence, doctors in this area often sent patients to a hospital in Orange, NJ or into New York City when they felt hospitalization was warranted.
One such patient, Myra Brookfield, was so inspired by the care she received that she willed her property on DeHart Street to the city of Morristown for the purpose of establishing a hospital upon her death. As part of the arrangement, the town’s residents were required to raise an additional $15,000 within three years – a deadline that was successfully met thanks to a town-wide fundraiser.
So, on November 19, 1892, Morristown Memorial Hospital was incorporated and opened its doors to patients a year later at 66 Morris Street in the area that is today occupied by the Midtown Shopping Center.
Two relocations, multiple expansions, and hundreds of thousands of patients later, Morristown Medical Center is known across the nation as a leader in cardiovascular medicine, orthopedics and nursing, and is part of Atlantic Health System, one of the leading non-profit health care systems in New Jersey.
Join us as we celebrate 2017 by giving back to the community that helped build our proud hospital.
1889
Myra Brookfield wills home and property at 10 DeHart Street to establish a hospital.
1892
Morristown Memorial Hospital receives certificate of incorporation.
1952
Hundreds of volunteers and 19 ambulances help move 63 patients, staff and equipment to a new facility at 100 Madison Avenue. Doctors deliver the first baby at 10:09am and perform the first surgery at 2:30pm.
1979
Mount Kemble Division of Morristown Memorial grows to provide long-term and outpatient programs, including physical, occupational and speech therapy, geriatric care, community wellness and corporate health programs.
2001
Morristown Memorial earns Magnet recognition – one of only 31 facilities in the country with this award at the time.
2017
Morristown Medical Center celebrates the 125th Anniversary of its incorporation, part of the “Year of Giving” back to the community that helped build it.
From its humble roots to today’s nationally-recognized medical center, Morristown Medical Center’s commitment to the health of the community has been evidenced over the past 125 years. Here are some thoughts from the people who helped create our rich history.
“Large and small, the gifts keep coming in, and each is entered and acknowledged as it comes.”
– First Annual Report, 1894, on the financial donations to support the town’s brand new hospital
“A hospital is somewhat like a lighthouse. As long as the skies are clear, the light that throws its gleam over the waters is perhaps unappreciated, but let a storm arise and how that beacon light shines like a ray of hope! So it is with the hospital. When the public health is comparatively unbroken, the careful preparation, the nurses ready for service, may seem superfluous, but let the storm of an epidemic or the dread of one arise, and the hospital at once assumes its supreme importance.”
– Mrs. Frederick G. Burnham, Vice President, Women’s Association, 1900
“To give real service to the sick poor is the true motivating force behind the effort of every person connected to this institution. It is recognized in the organic law of the hospital, which provides that its object is to maintain a hospital for the care, nurture, and maintenance of sick or injured persons, especially the needy poor, irrespective of race, creed or color. If we can feel that we have accomplished this, we are entitled to consider that we have done a service which is really worthwhile.”
– Leland B. Garretson, Hospital President, 1929-1932
“The building is no more than the body of the hospital. The spirit of Morristown Memorial Hospital is, I believe, as willing and as strong and as courageous as ever. It justifies our confidence in going forward with a good will into another difficult year of service and endeavor.”
– E.T. van Beuren, Hospital President, 1933, on the need for a new hospital
“We pledge our best efforts to uphold the highest standards of medical care and to devote every effort to be, in every way, a staff of which our community can be justly proud. As this splendid hospital is dedicated, I am sure every one of my colleagues joins in re-dedicating ourselves to the highest ideals of our profession.”
– Dr. Frank H. Pinckney, Medical Staff President, at the opening ceremony of the hospital, 1952
"We’ll continue to wear watches, celebrate birthdays, meet deadlines, and to count the years and measure the progress at Morristown Medical Center.”
– 1991 Annual Report
Washington’s Headquarters
Caring for Children
Logo
Morristown Green
Nurses
Vaccines
Ambulance
Donors
Morristown Medical Center Babies
Morristown Medical Center
Operating Rooms
X-ray
