About Columbus Hospital

Columbus Hospital opened its doors in 1934 and today is a 210-bed, general acute-care facility with more than 470 board-certified and board-eligible physicians and 900 health-care professionals and volunteers. Located in Newark, New Jersey, Columbus Hospital offers the community a broad range of medical services and wellness programs, which include preventive, diagnostic, therapeutic, and rehabilitative care. The Newark Eye and Ear Infirmary and the Children’s Eye Care Center of New Jersey also call Columbus Hospital home.

In 1934, Newark, Bloomfield, and other surrounding communities were highly populated and growing at a rapid rate. Almost immediately, the hospital saw a need for expansion, enlarging its capacity to 75 beds in 1940. World War II interrupted the expansion, which was resumed in 1948. With a new capacity of 124 beds, an operating suite, pharmacy, X-ray unit, and more, Columbus Hospital greatly increased its services. Renovation and modernization efforts in the late 1950s and early 1960s increased capacity and enhanced the quality of service. A benchmark period of growth began in 1966, as Columbus Hospital began construction of a new wing. Completed in 1972, the wing included new medical, surgical, and obstetrical units; pediatric, radiology, and rehabilitative departments; laboratory, pharmacy, outpatient, and emergency services; and many support areas within the hospital.

More growth took place in 1974 and 1975, with the addition of more beds, the opening of a modern Critical Care Unit, and the renovation and expansion of the operating suite and other hospital departments. Improvements continued throughout the 1980s and 1990s, with the addition of the Intensive Care/Critical Care Unit and the Luciano Pavarotti Pavilion, a wing that houses the Maternal/Child Health Unit and the Surgical Services Unit.

Today, Columbus Hospital has achieved outstanding national recognition. For example, it was one of only three hospitals recently to receive the Press Ganey Compass Award in its Bed Category for outstanding performance in patient satisfaction. Columbus Hospital has continued to advance its facilities and services by upgrading its Obstetrics Department with a new state-of-the-art central fetal monitoring system, expanding and upgrading its imaging capabilities with a new MRI system, opening the Sleep Diagnostics Center, and developing various new senior citizen programs.

Having celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2004, Columbus Hospital continues to add new services, upgrade technology, and improve facilities, bringing the highest level of health care to patients from throughout the Greater Newark community.