Glossary
St. Vincent's Hospital
St. Vincent's Hospital in Greenwich Village was a Catholic hospital that opened the first AIDS ward in New York City and became a central site of care during the epidemic before closing in 2010.
St. Vincent's Hospital, founded in 1849 by the Sisters of Charity in Greenwich Village, sat at the heart of one of New York City's most visible gay neighborhoods. In 1984 it established the first dedicated AIDS ward in the city and the second in the nation, and it went on to care for thousands of patients during the height of the epidemic. For many LGBTQ+ New Yorkers it became a place of loss, caregiving, and activism, sometimes called the city's other "ground zero" of AIDS. Financial pressures worsened by the 2008 crisis forced the hospital to close on April 30, 2010, ending Manhattan's last Catholic hospital. The site later became luxury housing, and the New York City AIDS Memorial was dedicated nearby in 2016.