This collection consists primarily of the minutes of the Doctors Hospital Board of Directors and its successor bodies from 1932 to 1994. The minutes of the year 1987, during which the hospital was acquired by the Beth Israel Medical Center, are missing.
The minutes document the administrative and financial operations of an affluent voluntary hospital. These include: the approval of budgets; the receipt of gifts and donations; the management of real estate belonging to the hospital corporation; the progress and outcome of suits against the hospital; the receipt of financial and committee reports; the recruitment, staffing and payment of nurses and residents; and the granting of staff privileges to doctors. Notably, during much of the hospital's lifespan, the last meeting of each year passed a motion approving the coming year's roster of physicians. This means that the minutes of a given year often include a complete roster of the following year's medical staff
The 1958 minutes include a pasted-in copy of the complete hospital by-laws, which are a useful starting point for understanding the administrative and medical organization of the hospital.
The collection includes a small assortment of minutes and legal records dated 1927-1932 that relate to the 87th Street and East End Avenue Corporation. This was an entity, legally distinct from Doctors Hospital, which managed the real estate aspects of the project during the initial establishment of the hospital. It was absorbed by the main Doctors Hospital corporation in 1932, likely as part of its' restructuring as a nonprofit voluntary hospital. The collection also includes a small assortment of legal records (1983-1989) and minutes (1987-1991) related to the Doctors Hospital Foundation, a legally distinct entity set up during the process of integrating Doctors Hospital with the Beth Israel Medical Center.
Finally, there is a small folder of historical notes, dated 1969, which were found tipped into the first volume of minutes. These notes include biographical details on some of the founders of the hospital.
