Influenza Doctors, Buffalo, 1918. Photo courtesy of The Buffalo History Museum, used by permission. Bandstand beside the lake in Delaware Park, ca. 1918. From the Curtiss Flyleaf. Reproduction by permission of the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, Buffalo, New York. 10 influenza pandemic arrived in 1918. Most susceptible were recent European immigrants who had had no opportunity to build up any immunity to the disease. As a railroad center, Buffalo citizens were also vulnerable to passengers from elsewhere who may have been infected, such as the thousands of soldiers on their way to ships that would carry them to World War I in Europe. Despite the opening of the new hospital, thousands died in Buffalo, but without the new Buffalo City Hospital, the number of deaths would certainly have been much higher. Through the ensuing years, the institution became the area’s largest and most important hospital and a vital center for the education and training of physicians, dentists, and nurses through its close collaboration with the University of Buffalo School of Medicine and Dentistry. As the hospital evolved and its importance to the community magnified, it continued to add new buildings and services. Its 100-year history is marked by three distinct phases corresponding to its three different names: (1) Buffalo City Hospital—21 years; (2) Dr. Edward J. Meyer Memorial Hospital—39 years; and (3) Erie County Medical Center—40 years. The original hospital consisted of three buildings of four floors each. Other buildings were added in successive years: three in 1922, an acute communicable disease building in 1923, the new psychiatric building in 1951, and the ECMC tower was erected in the 1970s.