Buffalo in the ’60s: New ambulance for Emergency Hospital

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

Back in a time when every hospital had its own ambulance corps, Emergency Hospital’s Women’s Guild raised money to buy a new, shorter ambulance for the hospital. It was touted as “similar to the ones used in Vietnam.”

Buffalo news archives

This 1968 shot shows driver Russell Sparcino, Guild President Mrs. James Kerrigan and hospital administrator Thomas McHugh.

First opened in 1884 at Pine and Eagle streets, Emergency Hospital was operated by the Catholic Daughters of Charity — the same religious order that for decades operated Sisters Hospital on Main Street.

The Diocese of Buffalo began operating the hospital in 1954, and it became known as Sheehan Memorial Emergency Hospital in 1977 after a donation from Paul V. Sheehan, a Buffalo attorney for more than 60 years who once ran for Congress in the ’30s.

After several bankruptcy filings, Sheehan Memorial was closed by New York State in 2012.

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Steve Cichon

Steve Cichon writes about Buffalo’s pop culture history. His stories of Buffalo's past have appeared more than 1600 times in The Buffalo News. He's a proud Buffalonian helping the world experience the city he loves. Since the earliest days of the internet, Cichon's been creating content celebrating the people, places, and ideas that make Buffalo unique and special. The 25-year veteran of Buffalo radio and television has written five books and curates The Buffalo Stories Archives-- hundreds of thousands of books, images, and audio/visual media which tell the stories of who we are in Western New York.