This House of Noble Deeds: The Mount Sinai Hospital, 1852-2002

34 Laboratory Departments

34 Laboratory Departments A PATIENT IN The Mount Sinai Hospital of 1890 might have a rudimentary analysis done of his blood or urine, but these tests were handled in an ad hoc setting by a young physician in training. In 1893, the first real laboratory, called the Pathological Laboratory, was established at the Hospital by the physician Henry N. Heineman, who paid for most of the equipment with his own funds. Establishing a pattern that would continue over the years, a young physician, Frederick Mandlebaum , was sent abroad for training in the latest medical science. Upon his return, Heineman resigned in favor of his young Assistant, and Mandlebaum was given control over the Laboratory. Occupying a space not much larger than a closet, this laboratory served as a base for those interested in the further study of the growing sciences of medicine , including bacteriology and chemistry. Activity in this laboratory grew at such a pace that, with Mount Sinai’s move to a larger site in 1904, the laboratories were given a separate building, filled with the most modern equipment of the day and underwritten by the Trustee Adolph Lewisohn. Here the staff not only performed the clinical tests needed by the Hospital but also served as a source of expertise and training, providing laboratory space for the medical staff who were interested in conducting research. The facility was used so intensively that, nine years after the new building opened, a plan was put forth for a larger building to house the laboratories. Over the years, all the laboratory work had been directed by Mandlebaum , and he himself did pioneering work in pathology. At his death in 1926, Louis Gross was hired as the full-time Director to oversee the laboratories; full-time Directors were also employed for each of the three main laboratories: Chemistry, Microbiology, and Pathology. In 1937, when the Director of Laboratories position was eliminated, the three laboratories became independent Departments. This remains the case today with Pathology, but, with the founding of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in the 1960s, the Chemistry and Microbiology 373 Departments were subsumed under the Departments of Biochemistry and Microbiology; the clinical laboratory work was separated from the academic and research efforts. In the mid-1980s, another major change occurred with the creation of the Center for Clinical Laboratories. With this move, the disparate laboratories that performed patient testing, irrespective of their physical location, were gradually amalgamated into one administrative unit, reporting to the Chairman of the Department of Pathology and to Hospital Administration. The Center is now responsible for all patient testing with the exception of anatomic and autopsy pathology. The first Director of the Center was Neville Coleman; Elkin Simson has been the Director since January 1996. The story of the Department of Pathology is told in another chapter . This section is a brief look at the history and contributions of the Chemistry and Microbiology Departments. THE CHEMISTRY DEPARTMENT The Chemistry Laboratory can trace its beginnings to the small corner in the Hospital laboratory at the Lexington Avenue site where Julius Rudisch, M.D., performed basic urinalyses and devised tests to identify sugar while pursuing his interest in diabetes. Formal recognition of the need for a professional lab came in 1902 with the appointment of Samuel Bookman, Ph.D., as an Associate in Physiological Chemistry. He worked with Mandlebaum to design the laboratory space in the buildings on the Fifth Avenue site. The opening of these buildings in 1904 marked the launch of the full spectrum of chemical testing at Mount Sinai. This has been noted as the first department of chemistry in any New York City voluntary hospital. Bookman received his Ph.D. from the Columbia University School of Mines, with postgraduate work in Berlin. During his tenure at Mount Sinai (1902–1927), the laboratory had only one full-time employee and relied on the unpaid, volunteer efforts of practicing physicians. Bookman routinely served half time, giving more time as needed. Bookman also “arranged for the distribution of private fees amongst his collaborators who, thus, gained greater freedom to pursue their research work.”1 By the time of Bookman’s retirement, there were nine Associates and Assistants who devoted a few hours each week, or as much as 374 THIS HOUSE OF NOBLE DEEDS six hours each day. This staff handled all of the chemical examinations for the Hospital, which by 1927 amounted to more...