5 Medical-Bio Books About Bellevue Hospital

Medical History Bio

We are discussing a time when a place wasn’t part of New York City. It was the countryside to the north of the city. The estate is called the Bellevue Estate. Especially in the 1790s, when there were yellow fever epidemics throughout the country, a little one-room infirmary with one doctor and six beds wasn’t cut. So, the old Bellevue estate turned into the US’s first proper public hospital complex. It is the most expensive building project in the city’s history.

Bellevue Hospital finds itself at the cutting edge of virtually every major medical innovation and pioneering step from that point until today. Bellevue was the site where we had the first maternity ward. The first hypodermic needle and the first ambulance service. There were ambulances during the Civil War. Based on experiences in the Civil War, the doctor who pioneered this service at Bellevue created the first civilian Ambulance Corps.

Books about Bellevue Hospital offer an opportunity to explore the hospital’s history, its impact on medical practices, and the broader societal and ethical issues related to healthcare. It allows for a deeper understanding of the challenges and triumphs associated with providing care to diverse populations in a public hospital setting.

5 Books About Bellevue Hospital (Biographies Of Medical Professionals)

Bellevue was a hospital made up of people who had learned something. That is why it also became one of the first major teaching hospitals, including the first in New York, to have a theater for medical students to learn from demonstrations. Bellevue is probably most famous for its psychiatric ward.

Most of the psychiatric patients from Bellevue now work in the tourism business. As it has continued to grow and modernize, Bellevue respects its history. Now I am going to talk about five books about Bellevue Hospital. Let’s go!

1. Weekends at Bellevue

Bellevue is one of the most famous hospitals in America. The name most people know about psychiatric hospitals, Bellevue, is almost. So this covers Dr. Holland’s career from the earliest moments she started doing her thesis until her final retirement from Bellevue to go into full-time private practice. She was the Knight person and worked two 15-hour shifts Saturday night and Sunday night. That’s her input for the week at the hospital.

Through Weekends at Bellevue, you will find mental illness fascinating and insights into how people treat these disorders. Julie Holland does how to convey the story properly to be interested in it. At one point, she’s talking, dealing with a trans woman. While talking to the trans woman face to face, she refers to the trans woman as male. It makes you a douche nozzle. She’s also not particularly introspective. For a psychiatrist, you will find that fascinating now. Every person who works in mental health will see a therapist to stay healthy.

That’s why cognitive behavioral therapy functions. The doctor herself has a private practice, or she’s a psychopharmacologist. Essentially, people come to her to get drugs. But if you’re not making sure that there is some other therapy there, those drugs aren’t going to make the changes in their lives. They need to have made for them to be healthy, which is the goal, not to make this minute bearable but to help change their lives so that it is bearable, enjoyable, and full of joy forever.

One of the reasons Holland was in therapy that she found when dealing with male prisoners was that all the prisoners from Rikers Island who had mental problems were brought to Bellevue to be assessed. She found herself being sadistic toward these male prisoners. She talks about things as intimate as that in her life.

Weekends at Bellevue

Author: Julie Holland
Average Rating: 4.2/5
Category: Psychiatry, Biographies of Medical Professionals
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle | Audio CD

2. Ten Days in a Mad-House

Ten Days in a Mad-House starts as a cereal in the world newspaper Pulitzer on paper in New York called The World, and the author, Nellie Bly, was one of the first women journalists in the United States. She was game for one of the first things her publisher sent her to do. She was a little apprehensive. But who wouldn’t be to examine the notorious Blackwell Island asylum? In 1887, her assignment was to get somehow committed to this insane asylum on Blackwell Island. Then they promised she would be sprung.

They would find a way to get her out of there. Even nowadays, if you are committed to a mental institution, you can’t be released until the doctors say you may be released and have a place to go. So author wrote this serial, and it was so popular that she was asked to put it in book form and publish it. That’s what became ten days in a madhouse.

There could have been different circumstances, but they needed somewhere to stay. So Nellie found one of these places and got herself let in. But then she made out that she was a little bit nutty. So they finally had the police come and take her out in front of a judge. Even though he was a charming judge, she had convinced him, doctors, and everything that she was not quite there. She did March 1st, and they sent her to Bellevue, which most of you heard Bellevue, and went into their insane asylum.

Ten Days in a Mad-House

Author: Nellie Bly
Average Rating: 4.4/5
Category: Historical Biography, Mental Health
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle | Audio CD

3. Bellevue Square

The main character of this book is Jean Mason, and she owns a bookstore in Toronto. It is a thriving bookstore, and people tell her they have seen her double her life twin. So she’s a little confused. Then she decides to find out who this person is now. Jean does have a sister named Paula. Paula comes into the story here and there a little bit.

Jean isn’t married. She has two boys, and she’s trying to figure out these sightings that people are saying that they’re seeing of her now. Her life twin only has it looks like her, except she has shorter hair, but she is pretty much the same person.

So her whole thing is trying to figure out who this person is and get to meet her. It’s only about two hundred and fifty pages total. In the book, you get to meet a bunch of different characters people that she meets in Bellevue Square as she is sitting around the park waiting to see her life twin. The characters were very easy to follow.

Bellevue Square

Author: Michael Redhill
Average Rating: 3.3/5
Category: Psychological Thrillers, Literary Fiction
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle | Audio CD

4. Bellevue – Three Centuries of Medicine and Mayhem at America’s Most Storied Hospital by David Oshinsky

This comprehensive book provides an in-depth exploration of Bellevue Hospital’s rich history and its role in shaping American medicine. From its early beginnings as a small almshouse to its modern-day status as a leading medical institution, Oshinsky chronicles the hospital’s remarkable journey. He focuses on Bellevue’s pioneering contributions to public health, its challenges during epidemics and crises, and the groundbreaking medical advancements within its walls.

5. Bellevue – A Documentary of a Large Metropolitan Hospital by Louis I. Dublin

This book takes a statistical and sociological approach to examining Bellevue Hospital. Dublin analyzes various aspects of the hospital, including patient demographics, medical services provided, and societal issues related to healthcare. While the book was published in 1939 and reflects the hospital’s state, it remains a valuable historical resource for understanding its significance in public health.


These books provide different perspectives on Bellevue Hospital, from its historical development to the personal experiences of those who have worked within its walls. They offer a glimpse into the hospital’s significance in medical history, its challenges, and the compassionate care provided to its diverse patient population.

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Pauline Jackson

I like to talk about popular books. My book review inspires you to read and save time. Also, I summarize the book and give you the best lessons or ideas that can change your life. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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