Sometime around 2005, a Brooklyn city councilman introduced his wife, who was looking for a new job, to the head of a hospital in his district.

The councilman was Bill de Blasio, now the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York.

During his eight years on the Council, he had advocated for millions of dollars in city money for the hospital, Maimonides Medical Center.

Maimonides did not have a job open for Mr. de Blasio’s wife, Chirlane McCray. So it created one.

Pamela Brier, chief executive of Maimonides, the largest and most prestigious hospital in Brooklyn, said that Mr. de Blasio’s position and support of the hospital had nothing to do with his wife’s hiring. “Bill was like, not much in those days,” Ms. Brier said. “Who knew he was going to run for mayor?”

Mr. de Blasio and Ms. McCray declined to comment. But a de Blasio campaign spokesman, Dan Levitan, said that Mr. de Blasio, with a Council colleague, had “recommended funding for several meritorious projects” at the hospital, because of its reputation for “delivering quality care to underserved, underprivileged communities.”