After reiterating earlier conversations, the men unanimously resolved to “... proceed to organize a Hospital Association for the establishment and maintenance of such a charity... and that said association be called... The Buffalo General Hospital”.

In the 30 years after its opening, the Erie Canal transformed Buffalo from a sleepy village on the shores of Lake Erie into a bustling, rapidly growing city with a population of 74,000. The waterfront produced stabbings and shootings, and the busy region suffered from its share of common maladies and injuries, including broken bones and “hydrophobia”. Twice during the 3 decades, Cholera and Typhoid epidemics struck the region with devastating results. The Sisters of Charity had established a tiny hospital in a private home in the early 1840’s, but it was woefully inadequate.

Intent on forming a “proper” hospital, 17 men led by Dr. Phineas Strong and Charles Clarke met on a sleety, windy evening in the office of the Buffalo Medical Association at 7 South Division St. on Wednesday, November 21st, 1855. Among the group were businessmen George Hazard, Andrew Rich, and Bronson Rumsey, and Doctors Thomas Rochester and Sandford Eastman.

After reiterating earlier conversations, the men unanimously resolved to
     “... proceed to organize a Hospital Association for the establishment and maintenance of such a charity... and that said association be called... The Buffalo General Hospital”.

By-laws adopted at the group’s next meeting read in part
    “The Buffalo General Hospital is designed as a general charity, to afford the gratuitous
     medical and surgical relief to indigent persons... paying patients may also be received...”

and that
    “Provision shall be made by the Trustees for the imparting of clinical instruction in the hospital...”

Three years were needed to raise the necessary funds, and on June 24, 1858, Buffalo General was dedicated. Ex-President Millard Fillmore, a BGH Trustee, presided. Board Chair Charles Clarke reported that the hospital had cost a grand total of $26,014.36. The first patient was admitted on July 15, 1858 with a condition similar to what we now know as carpal tunnel syndrome. He was John Russell, age 38, a tailor and a native of Scotland. He was treated surgically, and discharged two weeks later as “cured.” His bill was $2.50!

The original building on rural High St., containing 4 wards with a total capacity of 100 beds, faced westward, toward Ellicott St. It was the first, and for nearly a quarter century, the only teaching affiliate of what we now know as the University at Buffalo’s School of Medicine and Bio-medical Sciences.

Throughout its century and a half history, BGH has been known region-wide for its patient care, clinical education and research programs. It was the first hospital in New York outside NYC to organize a Training School for Nurses; the first to use hypodermic injections, mercury thermometers, electrocardiograms, insulin and 100 percent oxygen. It was the first to use sterile surgical procedures, the first to support cancer research, first to use X-ray machines, blood dialyzers for kidney disease, and the first to use the “patch-graft” technique for coronary bypass surgery.

Still the largest teaching affiliate of the University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, BGH is now a 501-bed acute care medical center providing a wide spectrum of clinical inpatient care and outpatient services. It is the largest hospital of Kaleida Health, and offers specialized programs in cardiac and orthopedic surgery, lithotripsy and urology, psychology, gynecology/obstetrics, dialysis, gastroenterology, cardiac rehabilitation, rehabilitation medicine, kidney and pancreas transplantation, neurology and nuerosurgery.