Rochester's Healthy History

by Dave Harney

Rochester has lots of great museums, but there is one collection in town containing lots of interesting history you may not be aware of. It’s the ViaHealth Archives Consortium (VHAC), an assemblage by area medical institutions representing a vast historical array of Rochester’s healthcare -- some nineteen collections in all. These include the Baker-Cederberg Museum, ViaHealth archives, Genesee and New York State Dietetic Association collections, and others. The collections represent over 500 years of the area’s medical history!

Located at 333 Humboldt Street in the city, the very location shouts history. It’s the facility of the old Stromberg-Carlson radio and television manufacturing company. Long since gone, the building now houses the VHAC as one of its primary residents.

For long-time area residents, a tour of the archives will certainly bring back memories of an important and amazingly progressive medical area. For example, did you know that around the turn of the century there were seven homeopathic hospitals in Monroe County alone? Most of these early hospitals operated from about 1895 to 1925. Of these, only Highland Hospital is still operating. Others, such as Genesee Hospital, made the transition to allopathic (traditional) medicine, but then were closed.

The collection also records our area’s heritage as an important contributor to the nursing profession, including a little known program started late in World War II called the United States Cadet Nursing Corps. This organization’s primary purpose was to ensure that the United States had enough nurses to care for its citizens on both the home and war fronts. While it only lasted a few years, the Rochester area, because of its many nursing schools, played a major role in supplying nurses to this program. In fact, of the sixteen New York nursing schools in the program, six (The Genesee Hospital School of Nursing, Highland Hospital School of Nursing, Rochester General Hospital School of Nursing, Rochester State Hospital, St. Mary's School of Nursing, and the University of Rochester School of Nursing) were located in our area.

The collection contains considerably more information on nursing in the Rochester area. In fact, if you have family members or friends who have ever worked in any of the VHAC-affiliated institutions it is likely they have data on that individual. Needless to say, that represents thousands of nurses, starting with graduates of the Rochester Homeopathic Training School which was established in 1899. And it’s not just nursing data in the archive -- the collection even contains hundreds of different uniforms worn by Rochester area nurses for more than 100 years.

This important collection is a testament to the role the medical profession has played in Rochester and its environs. And because that is still true today, we can be proud that this collection will continue to chronicle the area’s contributions to the advancement of the art and science of healthcare.

If you wish to visit the Archives, they are open to the public from 9 AM to 4 PM Monday– Friday, or by appointment. You can call them at (585) 922-1487 or visit them online at www.viahealth.org