Tag: Famous Hospitals
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The spedale of Santa Maria Nuova in Florence
Donatella LippiLuigi PadelettiFlorence, Italy The spedale of Santa Maria Nuova was founded in June 1288 by Folco di Ricovero dei Portinari, father of Dante’s Beatrice, who bought some houses in the centre of Florence to receive poor people who needed help. At first the hospital could only accept men from the large crowd of people…
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Bellevue Hospital at the dawn of the apocalypse
Diya BanerjeeNew York, New York, United States It is tempting to think of the history of medicine as an orderly procession of notable firsts—the first transplants, medications, wards, cures—together making up a linear march towards progress and humankind’s continual betterment. Bellevue Hospital, in its very building and plot, subscribes to the same narrative of history.…
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The Meath Hospital, Dublin
Desmond O’NeillDublin, Ireland Narratives of venerable teaching hospitals are usually upbeat and positive, delineating progress and advances made in the face of adversity and hardship. This is also the case for Meath Hospital, the most celebrated of the wave of voluntary hospitals founded in Dublin in the eighteenth century.1 Established in 1753 as a charitable…
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You’re no fi’ Glasgow: Memories of the Glasgow Royal Infirmary
Christopher FrankKingston, Canada We know famous hospitals for the care they provide, for eminent physicians who have worked in them, or for their architectural heritage. Hospitals are rarely famous for their patients. The Glasgow Royal Infirmary dates back to the eighteenth century and is best known as the place where Sir Joseph Lister studied antiseptics.…
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Missing history on a daily basis: Working in an old hospital without paying attention
Christopher FrankOntario, Canada I live in an old city by North American standards. I love walking through the Victorian parts of town, which have limestone buildings and hidden courtyards. However, I never gave much thought to the historical significance of the Kingston General (KGH), the hospital I go into or cycle past on a daily…
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Cincinnati Children’s Hospital
Carolyn LipchikOhio, United States “The dean of the College of Medicine recalled Dr. Mitchell looking over blueprints and declaring, ‘We’ll have something here. There’ll be nothing like it in the world.’”1 Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC) has a long history of commitment to medical research. Leadership in the 1920s modernized the hospital and infused…
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Colonial madness: The Public Hospital of Williamsburg, Virginia
Brian Andrew SharplessPullman, United States Although it is widely known that the first hospital in the United States was the Pennsylvania Hospital (founded in 1751 in Philadelphia), few may realize that the first American hospital devoted exclusively to treating the mentally ill was built in Virginia. The Public Hospital of Williamsburg (also known as Eastern…
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Boston Dispensary
Birju RaoChicago, Illinois, United States Sometimes, what seems like a miracle is actually a product of history. I It was the dead of night on a chilly April 18, 1775, in the large town of Arlington, MA. A muffled shout and a distant sound of hooves startled the sleepy village watchmen. The beating hooves drew…
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Royal Hospital Haslar: End of an era
Ben WilliamsonLondon, United Kingdom In March 2007 Surgeon Captain Campbell lowered the flag and led his staff on a march out of the Royal Hospital Haslar, marking the closure of the United Kingdom’s last dedicated military hospital.1 The hospital had been at the core of the care system for the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy for…
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The Montreal Children’s Hospital
Barry PlessMontreal, Canada Hospitals are more than bricks and mortar. The Montreal Children’s Hospital (MCH) is no exception. Like all famous hospitals, there is little about the buildings themselves that warrant acclaim. It is the accomplishments and contributions of the staff that make them respected. Accordingly, this account focuses on some of those who have…