History of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at
St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center
Chiefs of the Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry |
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2002 - Present
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Ramon Solhkhah, M.D.
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2000-2002
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Rodrigo Pizarro, M.D.
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1999-2000
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Vacant
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1995-1999
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Raul Silva, M.D.
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1993-1995
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Mariano Nevarez-Tapia, M.D. (Acting)
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1990-1993
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Leo Kron, M.D.
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1990-1991
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John Fogelman, M.D., Associate Director (RH site)
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1990-1993
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Mariano Nevarez-Tapia, M.D., Associate Director (SL site)
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1990
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Divisions merge
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| 1987 - 1990 |
Leo Kron, M.D. (SL) |
1980-1990 |
John Fogelman, M.D. (RH) |
| 1984-1987 |
Ted Becker, Jr., M.D. (SL) |
1965-1979 |
Bernard L. Pacella (RH) |
| 1971-1984 |
Clarice J. Kestenbaum, M.D.
|
1957-1965 |
? (RH) (SL) |
| 1972-1978 |
Hector Bird, M.D., Associate
Director (SL) |
??-1957 |
Janet Rioch, M.D. (RH) |
| 1962-1971 |
Jerry M. Wiener, M.D. (SL) |
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| 1956-1962 |
Earl Loomis, M.D. (SL) |
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| ??-1956 |
? (SL) |
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| 1952-?? |
Alice C. DeBlois, M.D. (SL CGC) |
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| ??-1952 |
Joseph D. Teiden, M.D. (SL CGC) |
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For over half a century, the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry of
St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center (SLRHC), a University Hospital of
Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons, has been an integral
part of the Department of Psychiatry. Beginning in the late 1940’s, before
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry was even a recognized field, St. Luke’s (SL)
and Roosevelt (RH) Hospitals were providing care to children and their
families afflicted by mental illness. Initially, service was delivered
through the Department of Pediatrics (under the Chairman, Edmund N. Joyner, III, M.D.)
at RH. At SL, the Division got its’ start as the Child Guidance Clinic.
In 1947, St. Luke’s Hospital began its’ affiliation with Columbia University College
of Physicians and Surgeons. RH has always been closely affiliated with Columbia,
and for a time in the early 1900’s, Columbia and RH almost merged.
Roosevelt Hospital was founded in 1869 under the will of James Henry Roosevelt (1800-1863),
uncle to President Teddy Roosevelt. The hospital officially opened November 2, 1871.
In 1898, the hospital opened the Bliss Ward for Sick Children. In 1953, the new Tower
Building opened. Pediatrics occupied the 8th floor, and the newly created Psychiatry
Service was on the 9th floor.
Beginning in the late 1950’s, there was a residency in Child Psychiatry at SL.
The American Medical Association’s Council on Medical Education and Hospitals
initially accredited this program in 1963. The program was last site visited
in the Summer of 2003 with continued full accreditation for five years (until 2008).
Dr. Janet Rioch, M.D. was the first Chief of Child Psychiatry at RH.
She was the 1st president of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis (AAP) and
a supervisor at the White Institute. The AAP was established in 1956 in Chicago.
Founding members included Janet Rioch, M.D., Clara Thompson, M.D.,
William Silverberg, M.D., Ralph Crowley, M.D., Jules Masserman, M.D.,
Irving Bieber, M.D., Abraham Kardiner, M.D., Frieda Fromm-Reichmann, M.D.,
Sandor Rado, M.D., Robert Heath, M.D., Franz Alexander, M.D., and Leon Saul, M.D.
Dr. Rioch was named president. Dr. Rioch also co-founded the
William Alanson White Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Psychoanalysis
in 1943 with Harry Stack Sullivan, Erich Fromm, Clara Thompson, and
Frieda Fromm-Reichmann. She left the hospital in 1957.
Meanwhile, at SL, the Child Guidance Clinic (CGC) was providing care to children
and their families since the late 1940’s. Dr. Joseph D. Teiden was one of the first
Directors of the CGC. Dr. Teiden left in 1952 and was followed by Alice C. DeBlois, M.D.
Over the mid-1950’s the Division of Child Psychiatry was formed, along with a
Child Psychiatry Clinic which replaced the Child Guidance Clinic.
The Department of Psychiatry was created at St. Luke’s Hospital on December 27, 1954.
Prior to that date, all psychiatric services at St. Luke’s were administered through
the Neuropsychiatric Service (NPS) under the Department of Neurology.
Dr. Earl Loomis resigned as Director of Child Psychiatry in 1962 in order to spend a
sabbatical year in Geneva, Switzerland with Dr. Jean Piaget.
Dr. Bernard L. Pacella was one of the early chiefs at Roosevelt Hospital. His work with
children dates back to co-editing a book with Nolan D. C. Lewis, M.D. in 1945, "Modern Trends
in Child Psychiatry." Dr. Pacella, first certified in neurophysiology and neurology, trained
in psychoanalysis with Ernst Kris, Edith Jacobson, and Otto Isakower and collaborated with
Phyllis Greenacre and particularly with Margaret S. Mahler. He is a past President of the
Margaret S. Mahler Psychiatric Research Foundation as well as past President of
The American Psychoanalytic Association.
The American Academy of Child Psychiatry (AACP) was founded in 1953, with 107 charter members.
Membership was originally by invitation only. The subspecialty of Child Psychiatry was approved
in February 1959. As a result, a six-person ABPN Committee on Certification in Child Psychiatry
was formed. In 1960, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education's Residency
Review Committee (RRC) in Psychiatry approved 11 child psychiatry residency programs.
In 1986, the academy voted to expand its name to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent
Psychiatry (AACAP) and within a few years, this expansion was approved by the ABPN and the
Psychiatry RRC.
In 1962, Jerry M. Wiener, M.D. became the Chief of Child Psychiatry at SL. Prior to his joining SL,
he had been on the child psychiatry staff of Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. During Dr. Wiener’s tenure,
collaborations were started with the Riverside Health Center, including a “well-baby” clinic.
Also, a program was started with the Riverside Church Nursery School. The School Mental Health
Program was started in September 1962 to give service to teachers and guidance counselors on
the understanding of emotional problems of school children. The Psychopharmacological Clinic was opened at
SL in conjunction with the Department of Pediatrics to provide medication for youngsters with “organic
conditions” on a regular basis. Dr. Wiener was a true leader in the field. He was a past-president of the
American Psychiatric Association (1994-1995), the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (1987-1989),
and the American Association of Chairmen of Departments of Psychiatry (1981-1982). He was also the Editor
of The Textbook of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry , the major textbook in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
He left the Division in 1971 to become the Director of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
at Emory University in Atlanta.
Upon Dr. Wiener’s departure in 1971, Clarice Kestenbaum, M.D. became Chief of the Division at the St. Luke’s site.
Another leader in the field, she is a past-president of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (2001-2003)
and American Academy of Psychoanalysis. She served as Chief of the Division until 1984. During her tenure,
The Hospital Center was established in 1979 with the merger of St. Luke’s Hospital and Roosevelt Hospital, although
initially the hospitals maintained separate Divisions of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. At the time of the merger,
Dr. Harley Shands was the Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at Roosevelt Hospital and Dr. Dave McDonald was
acting chair at St. Luke’s. Dr. Shands became the Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry for both sites shortly
after the merger. When Dr. Shands abruptly died of an aortic aneurysm, the President of the merged Hospital Center,
Gary Gambuti, appointed Dave McDonald as acting director for the merged department.
Dr. Kestenbaum left the Division in 1984 to become the Director of Training in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. In 1990, the Divisions merged forming the current Division
of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry of St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center (SLRHC). Some unique programs were started
during this time, including the Adolescent Alternative Day Program (AADP), run by Dr. Fred Matzner and the Gender
Identity Clinic at RH (and then 1090), run by Susan Coates, Ph.D.
In January 1997, St. Luke’s-Roosevelt entered into a partnership with Beth Israel Medical Center, forming Continuum Health Partners, Inc.
Under the leadership of Dr. Ramon Solhkhah, the Division continues to thrive, with the development of several new programs.
These include several collaborations with the Department of Pediatrics here at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center, most
notably, The Pediatric Weight Management Program and the School Based Health Centers at Louis D. Brandeis High School and
A. Philip Randolph High School. Lastly, The Child and Family Institute at St. Luke’s and Roosevelt Hospitals was founded
at the end of Spring of 2004.
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