In 1940 the Auxiliary merged with the Convalescent Relief Committee and the Synagogue Committee. In 1945 the Auxiliary was legally incorporated and thereafter known as the Social Service Auxiliary to Bellevue Hospital. By 1951 the Auxiliary assumed responsibility for the Rehabilitation program, which was under the guidance of Dr. Howard Rusk. By 1952, the needs of the Hospital led the Auxiliary to employ two full-time staff members, one in charge of recreational activities, the other in charge of volunteers. In keeping with these changes, the Auxiliary to Bellevue Hospital Center, Inc. name was adopted in 1956.
In 1941 three patient libraries were started and funded by the Auxiliary and operated by volunteers. They served the entire hospital and were located in the TB, general and psychiatric divisions. Other volunteers served on the Recreation Committee, which evolved into the Therapeutic Activities Department. Large numbers of men and women visited the Hospital in the evening to run activities on the wards. The Interfaith Chaplaincy Program also counts on volunteers to help them attend to the patients' spiritual needs.
For thirty years the Auxiliary itself relied on volunteers to help run the Stuyvesant Square Thrift Shop at 80th Street, a successor to The Little Jack Horner Shop that had opened during the Depression to serve patients and their families by providing low priced wares and clothing.
On May 23, 1956 the Bellevue Snack Bar was opened. It was hoped this venture would serve physicians, staff and visitors to Bellevue Hospital as well as increase revenue for the Auxiliary's needs. Fifty years later the snack bar, now the Coffee Shop, continues to operate. The Bellevue Newsstand was created by the Auxiliary in 1970 and continues as a combination Newsstand/Gift Shop.
In 1981 the Auxiliary's 75th Anniversary was celebrated with a gala event held in the Lobby of the New Bellevue. Staff, physicians and friends from all quarters attended in a salute to the Auxiliary's achievements. In 1986 in honor of Bellevue Hospital's 250th Anniversary, the Auxiliary presented a Fountain for the front park. It replicates the look of an earlier version which had been on the hospital grounds.
