Moses Taylor Hospital 264 Ridge Road, Lackawanna, shortly after it opened. Image source: private collection
Moses Taylor Hospital 264 Ridge Road, Lackawanna, shortly after it opened. Image source: private collection
Moses Taylor (1806-1882) was a man of nearly immeasurable wealth. He acquired controlling interest in the Delaware, Lackawanna
and Western railroad as well as controlling interest in the National City Bank of New York; these were only two of his many
investments. In his last year of life, Taylor funded the creation of a hospital in Scranton, Pennyslvania named for him whose
purpose was to serve steel and railroad workers and their families. He created an endowment to support the hospital. In
1904, a second Moses Taylor Hospital was established in what was then rural West Seneca (later to be renamed Lackawanna after the steel plant that opened there in 1903). On 5 acres of land that had once been an apple orchard, the 28-bed hospital opened July 25, 1904 to serve the 3,000 steel workers employed at Lackawanna Steel. |
View of hospital main entrance, c. 1935. Image source: private collection
The 28-bed hospital was of the most modern design when it opened and filled an immediate need. The entire area had been served by a medical facility operated in a small house by the Sisters of Mercy. At the beginning, all services were free to workers and their families. Over time, as the number of steelmaking employees soared, family services were dropped and then services were restricted to job-related injuries only. Between 1934 and 1951 a total of 94,373 patients were served, 17,238 major and minor operations performed, and 4,489 patienta admitted. Bethlehem Steel, having purchased Lackawanna Steel in 1922, eventually found itself covering the hospital's operating deficit as the Taylor endowment dwindled. Finally, in 1952, the Moses Taylor Hospital closed. In its place, the company opened a new clinic at Gate #1 and also funded new construction at Our Lady of Victory Hospital in Lackawanna. The hospital building was purchased by the WNY Presbytery which set up its Friendship House human services center. |
The same view in 2008.
By the 1960's, the aging building had too many code violations and so the Presbytery demolished it and constructed a modern,
one-story building on a corner of the site. That facilty served until it closed in the early years of the 21st century. The playground equipment above is on the site of the hospital. The tennis court used by staff of Moses Taylor Hospital remains. |
Special thanks to Mike Malyak, Volunteer for Research & Archives of the Lackawanna Public Library.