In November 1985, St. Clare's Hospital in New York City became the first hospital on the East Coast (the second in the country) to open a separate dedicated unit for AIDS patients. Staff succeeded despite some seemingly impossible contradictions: John Cardinal O'Connor of the Archdiocese of New York, who has been opposed to the life-styles of most of the people who would use the unit (gays and IV abusers) urged the creation of the unit; St. Clare's had been bankrupt and virtually dismantled just a few years earlier; and the hospital did not have the financial resources, facilities, or AIDS patient caseload of the larger, well-known New York medical institutions. Through the perseverence of many individuals, stumbling blocks were overcome. The lessons learned at St. Clare's can be applied anywhere.