Ellis Island Hospital Restoration Preserves Immigration Stories

When 13-year-old Yervant Cholakian arrived at Ellis Island in 1920 with signs of trachoma, doctors separated him from his mother and sent him to the island's hospital. His story, along with thousands of others, now lives in the walls of a 29-building complex that a nonprofit is racing to preserve.

Save Ellis Island is working to restore the abandoned hospital where up to 16,000 immigrant patients received treatment annually between 1902 and 1951. The facility treated children with measles and ringworm alongside adults suffering from tuberculosis and other conditions that could have ended their American dream before it began.

Most visitors to Ellis Island today don't realize the immigration station once housed a massive 750-bed hospital. Yet up to 40 percent of Americans have at least one ancestor who passed through these halls, making it one of the most significant sites in our national story.

The hospital's history reflects both compassion and challenge. In 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt appointed William Williams as immigration commissioner with a clear directive: treat immigrants with kindness and consideration. Williams expanded the inadequate facilities into a sprawling medical complex that eventually covered two islands.

Hospital stays ranged from days to months, and families waited anxiously while loved ones received care. The Immigration Service denied only about 13 percent of immigrants seeking treatment, giving most families a fighting chance at their new life.

March 2026 marks 75 years since the hospital closed in 1951. The buildings have remained largely untouched since then, holding what preservation advocates call the most intimate chapter of Ellis Island's history.

Why This Inspires

Janis DeLuce Calella, president of Save Ellis Island, calls the hospital "where the immigrant story becomes deeply human." The abandoned complex holds moments of fear alongside extraordinary hope, separated mothers and children alongside reunited families who overcame illness to start fresh.

Preserving these buildings means protecting the fuller story of immigration, beyond the iconic Great Hall. The hospital walls witnessed resilience in its rawest form, where people fought not just for entry but for health and survival.

Young Yervant Cholakian eventually recovered from trachoma and was reunited with his mother, joining millions who passed through Ellis Island's doors to build new lives. Their stories of perseverance deserve to be remembered and shared with future generations.