Bassett Healthcare Network marks hospital's centennial
Dr. Mary Imogene Bassett liked to refer to her brand of compassionate care and rural doctoring as reflecting “a more excellent way” and today, the whole of central New York knows the hospital opened and named in her honor 100 years ago this week as Bassett Medical Center.
Philanthropist Edward Severin Clark funded construction of the original Bassett Hospital; the Clark family has continued its stalwart support of the institution throughout the 10 decades since. And what a legacy the hospital carries.
“Over the years, Bassett Hospital hosted the first bone marrow transplant, the first tissue transplant in America, and even the first immunotherapy for bee stings,” said Bassett Healthcare Network president and CEO, Dr. Tommy Ibrahim. “Dr. E. Donnall Thomas, who pioneered bone marrow transplantation first at Bassett and later at Stanford University, ultimately won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his vision and dedication.“
“Bassett, clearly, has not been your typical rural hospital over the decades,” he said.
“There are two things that strike me as Bassett’s greatest assets today,” Dr. Ibrahim said. “The first is this sure foundation provided by Mary Imogene Bassett and our other founders. The second is the hard work, dedication, and excellence of our caregivers and practitioners as they build on that foundation.”
