Firemen’s Home Changes Name to Firefighter’s Home

The FASNY Firemen’s Home recently made a historic name change to the Firefighter’s Home to be better representative of its population of residents and establish a more inclusive title. It also falls in line with FASNY’s name change from the Firemen’s Association of the State of New York to the Firefighters Association of the State of New York earlier this year.

The FASNY Firefighter’s Home is dedicated to providing a home-like setting and personalized care for those volunteer firefighters who have served their communities, but can no longer care for themselves. Governed by the FASNY Board of Directors and guided by an appointed Board of Trustees, the Firemen’s Home has been the only facility in the world exclusively dedicated to volunteer firefighters for more than 130 years.

At the 1888 FASNY Convention held in Cortland, George W. Anderson presented a resolution that would establish a Home for sick or indigent volunteer firefighters. The resolution went on to direct the President of FASNY to appoint a committee of five to find a suitable location for a Firemen’s Home and to report their findings at the 1889 FASNY Convention. The Committee recommended that FASNY make application to charter a Home and issue capital stock at a cost of $10 a share to fund the construction. Volunteer fire departments across the state would be asked to buy shares.

In 1931, construction began on the Memorial Hospital. In 1941, FASNY purchased an adjacent 120-acre farm. Beginning in the late 1960s, there were changes in federal and state laws as well as Department of Health regulations that dramatically affected the way the Home did business. The transition from “Hospital Side/Home Side” to a totally skilled nursing facility had begun.

The transformation was slow, but thorough. FASNY has and continues to evolve with the geriatric health care field, earning a prestigious Circle of Excellence Award from National Association of Directors of Nursing Administrators in 2005 and dedicating the current 126,000 square-foot, $35 million facility in 2007. Despite the name change, the iconic front gate to the property will remain intact.

The Home, which celebrated its 130th year in 2022, has welcomed well over 3,000 residents to date. The one constant over its long history has been the staff and its exemplary services that nurture the bodies, minds and spirits of the special residents.