1863–1899 Hospital for Special Surgery was incorporated in New York City on March 27, 1863, as
The Hospital of the New York Society for the Relief of the Ruptured and Crippled, by a group that included Dr. James Knight, a general practicing physician, and Robert M. Hartley, a secretary of the
Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor. Dr. Knight was appointed Resident Physician and Surgeon. The hospital was located in the Manhattan home of Dr. Knight at 97 Second Avenue. There were 28 inpatient beds available for children and a conservatory to make braces. Adults were treated as outpatients. The poor were treated for free, and others were charged a moderate fee. The hospital opened its doors to the first patient, a four-year-old boy with paralysis, on May 1, 1863. In 1870, the hospital moved to a 200-bed, four-story hospital built on the northwest corner of Lexington Avenue and 42nd Street (Manhattan).
1900–1939 In 1903, the hospital opened its first adult ward for female inpatients only. HSS became known as a national center for treating people affected by the polio epidemics. During World War I, the hospital opened its first male inpatient ward to treat injured sailors, marines, and soldiers. In the same year, the hospital established its first Department of Physiotherapy (later known as
Physical Therapy). It was the first time a general surgeon held the position at the hospital. With his mentor, Dr. William Bull, Coley advanced the surgical treatment of hernias at the hospital. Before the advent of surgical intervention, many adults and children became incapacitated by abdominal hernias, which could only be treated by braces and trusses. Coley, as surgeon-in-chief emeritus, helped Wilson reorganize the Surgical Department. Under Wilson's leadership, the hospital became increasingly focused on musculoskeletal conditions.
1940–1979 In 1940, the hospital renamed the organization to the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS). World War II significantly affected the staff, but patient care went uninterrupted. Many staff surgeons and doctors served overseas during the war. Residencies programs were temporarily reduced from two years to one year. The war effort demanded a greater number of orthopedic doctors and surgeons. Significant orthopedic advancements in fracture care, wound management, amputation surgery, and rehabilitation resulted from the battlefield experiences of HSS surgeons. The hospital established one of the first bone banks in the United States in 1946. Under the agreement, HSS would provide orthopedic and rheumatological services for both organizations and subsequently eliminated the Department of General Surgery and other non-orthopedic surgical specialties. In the same year, Dr. Wilson stepped down as surgeon-in-chief and assumed the new title of Director of Research and Emeritus Surgeon-in-Chief. The hospital added the Alfred H. Caspary Research Building to its facilities in 1956. Dr. T. Campbell Thompson became Surgeon-in-Chief in 1955. He is known for developing the Fracture Service at New York Hospital. The Margaret Caspary Research Building opened in 1960 and increased the hospital's capacity to 196. In 1972, Dr. Philip D. Wilson Jr., MD, was appointed the eighth Surgeon-in-Chief of the Hospital, the same position held by his father thirty-seven years earlier. In 1974, Dr. Peter Walker, Dr. John Insall, Dr. Chitranjan Ranawat, and Dr. Alan Inglis performed the first successful total condylar
knee replacement. In 1989, the hospital opened a new facility on 73rd Street in Manhattan funded by the Dana Foundation, to house the biomechanics laboratory and to provide custom-made prosthetic limb and orthotics services. In 1990, Dr. Andrew J. Weiland was appointed the ninth Surgeon-in-Chief. In 2000, HSS was awarded the first
New York State Department of Health Patient Safety Award. In 2015, the AIM Laboratory for Foot and Ankle Research was established. The laboratory is centered around a six-degrees-of-freedom robotic platform. During the
COVID-19 pandemic, HSS served as an emergency room for all of NYC for people with injuries in order to prevent them from having to go to the usual emergency rooms, which were overwhelmed with COVID patients. HSS shut down all nonessential care during the pandemic and proactively volunteered to temporarily convert two ORs into Covid wards for a period of time, while also taking on non-COVID medical-surgical patients from neighboring Weill Cornell. In 2021, HSS broke ground on a new 12-story building over FDR Drive at 71st Street, funded by a gift from the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation. HSS received
Magnet Recognition for nursing excellence in 2002, 2007, 2011, 2016, and 2021. HSS has ranked No. 1 in orthopedics nationally for 15 consecutive years, and ranked No. 3 in rheumatology by
U.S. News & World Report in 2024–2025. Bryan T. Kelly, MD was appointed President and CEO of HSS in 2023. Kelly is the hospital's first surgeon-in-chief to become CEO. == About ==