TALKING HART ISLAND PODCAST EPISODE 12

Episode 12 “Bellevue”: with Dr. Danielle Ofri

Essayist, editor, and practicing internist in New York City.

How exactly did bodies end up on Hart Island? Their first stop use to be the Bellevue Hospital Morgue.

During the 19th century, the Bellevue Morgue had become the first official repository of deceased New Yorkers. If a body was not claimed by family or friends within twenty-four hours from the time of notification of death, the New York City Department of Hospitals was authorized to allow burial on Hart Island.

But what is it like to work at Bellevue Hospital and the Morgue today?

For the answer to that question we ask Dr. Danielle Ofri. She is attending physician at Bellevue Hospital and Clinical Professor of Medicine at New York University. She is also the author of, “Singular Intimacies: Becoming a Doctor at Bellevue”.

Bellevue Literary Review Selected Short Stories and Poetry: