This year, The Valley Hospital will celebrate 75 years since its opening day, on August 8, 1951. To memorialize Valley’s history over the past seven decades, we are reflecting on the organization’s major milestones.
In this blog, we’ll highlight Valley’s continued growth and milestones in the 1980s.
Be sure to check back each month as we continue to share the history of The Valley Hospital! To learn more about Valley’s growth in prior decades, browse our blog posts here.
Valley in the 1980s
In 1980, The Valley Hospital Foundation was created, which provided a pathway for individuals, foundations, and corporations to support the hospital for current and future needs.
In 1981, Michael W. Azzara became Valley’s Chief Executive Officer, after the passing of John Peterson. His knowledge, expertise in the field, and strong leadership skills helped him to lead Valley for the next two decades.
The same year, Valley celebrated its 30th anniversary with the beginning of a tradition it would repeat for several years – being recognized as having the best float in the annual Ridgewood Fourth of July parade!
In 1985, the North Wing project included the construction of what is known today as the Cheel Building. On February 19, 1985, the Ridgewood Planning Board passed a resolution granting the final site plan approval, and ground was broken for Valley’s new building on May 19, 1985.
The Valley Hospital Sports Institute, led by orthopedic surgeon Joseph Pizzurro, MD, opened in 1986.
In 1987, The Harold W. and Helen S. Cheel Building opened. This new building signaled a new era for Valley as it allowed for the introduction of new technology, advanced medical and surgical services, and the establishment of a cardiac surgery program.
Valley Home and Community Health Care was incorporated in 1987. The agency, along with Valley’s hospice service, positioned Valley to provide high-quality care in new and different settings, and was located at 74 Passaic Street in Ridgewood.
In 1988, Valley welcomed a record number of babies into the world, with families relying on the safe and high-quality care provided in the hospital’s new Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. The service was led by Frank Manginello, MD, Valley’s first full-time Director of Neonatology, who served for decades to come.
Valley enhanced its telemetry services in 1989 by adding monitors on Phillips 2 West, which signified an increase in Valley’s monitoring capacity from just 12 patient beds to 44.
Valley also unveiled a new logo in 1989, ushering in the next decade.
Back in the Eighties
Outside of Valley, the United States experienced a decade of notable leaders and cultural moments. Here are a few facts from the decade.
Presidents: Jimmy Carter (1977-1981), Ronald Reagan (1981-1989), and George H.W. Bush (1989-1993)
Cost of Milk: A gallon was around $2.20
Cost of Gas: Averaged $1.19 per gallon
Historical Events: In the 1980s, Mount Saint Helens in Washington state erupted (1980), the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that smallpox had been eradicated (1980), MTV launched (1981), Sandra Day O’Connor became the first woman on the United States Supreme Court (1981), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recognized AIDS as a new disease (1982), the Internet, originally created to support communication between scientists, opens (1983), the Apple Macintosh computer is launched (1984), the wreckage of the Titanic was found (1985), the Live Aid concert occurred (1985), the United States space shuttle Challenger exploded after liftoff (1986), the Chernobyl nuclear disaster occurred in the Soviet Union (1986), “Black Monday,” the largest one day drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, happened (1987), Prozac was first prescribed, revolutionizing the treatment of depression (1988), scientists began to work on the World Wide Web (1989), and the Berlin Wall fell (1989).
