St Bernard's Hospital
St Bernard's Hospital | |
---|---|
Gibraltar Health Authority | |
![]() | |
![]() Gibraltar Health Authority ambulances parked outside St Bernard's Hospital | |
Geography | |
Location | Blocks 1-4 Europort, Europort Avenue, Gibraltar |
Coordinates | 36°08′36″N5°21′34″W/ 36.143405°N 5.359491°W |
Organisation | |
Care system | Social health insurance |
Type | District General |
Affiliated university | Kingston University |
Services | |
Emergency department | Yes |
Beds | Approx. 210 |
History | |
Opened | 1567 |
Links | |
Lists | Hospitals in Gibraltar |
St Bernard's Hospitalis the only public hospital andteaching hospitalinKingston Universityin theBritish overseas territoryofGibraltar.[1]
History
[edit]Juan Mateos
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/13/La_trama_urbana_de_Gibraltar_en_1627%2C_por_Luis_Bravo_de_Acu%C3%B1a.png/280px-La_trama_urbana_de_Gibraltar_en_1627%2C_por_Luis_Bravo_de_Acu%C3%B1a.png)
1- Puerta de España
2-Tower of Homage
3-Hospital de San Juan de Dios (current St Bernard's Hospital)
4- Plaza Mayor (currentJohn Mackintosh Square)
5-Iglesia parroquial de Santa María la Coronada y San Bernardo
6- Calle Real (currentMain Street
7- Puerta de África (currentSouthport Gates)
8- Muelle Viejo (Old Mole)
In 1567, duringGibraltar's Spanish period,a retiredSpanishinnkeeperby the name ofJuan Mateosconverted his house into a 20-bed hospital. He continued to nurse locals and sailors from this location for over 20 years before running into debt, as a result of which he transferred the hospital to the "Orden de San Juan de Dios"(Spanish:Order of Saint John of God). He joined the order himself until his death in 1594, when he was mourned by all the locals. By 1691, the hospital became known as the "Hospital de San Juan de Dios" (English:Saint John of God Hospital), an isolation hospital.[2]
Military hospital
[edit]The existing Spanish hospital in Gibraltar was taken over by the British authorities as amilitary hospitalafter theAnglo-Dutch capture of Gibraltarin August 1704 and repaired and refurbished by theLieutenant Governor Col. Richard Kane.It was initially a naval hospital, but was used during the 1727 siege by the Army, and was returned to the Navy in 1728. With the building of the Naval Hospital in 1746, it became the Garrison Hospital, but by 1756 it was being used as a Barracks, later known as the Blue Barracks, where the Company of Military Artificers (later theRoyal Engineers) was formed in 1776.
The New Civil Hospital
[edit]Much of the building fell into ruins after it was severely damaged byFranco-Spanishbombardment during theGreat Siege of Gibraltar,and it was not until 1815 that it was extensively rebuilt under the auspices of the thenGovernor of GibraltarSir George Don,as a civil hospital for thelocal population.It served as a war hospital for injured soldiers in the Mediterranean, and many received aid here in the 1830s.[3]
The Colonial Hospital
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/63/Gibraltar_Colonial_Hospital.jpg/150px-Gibraltar_Colonial_Hospital.jpg)
It was rebuilt in 1882, and the elegant façade can still be seen, partly obscured by further extensions and additions over the years including theKingGeorge VIWingin front of the hospital in the 1950s and theMackintosh Wingin the 1970s. In 2005 St Bernard's Hospital moved to its new home in Europort, and over four centuries of history came to an end.
New St Bernard's
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/34/St_Bernard%27s_Hospital_entrance.jpg/150px-St_Bernard%27s_Hospital_entrance.jpg)
The new St Bernard's Hospital, constructed by converting an existing office block at Europort (three times the size of the old hospital), represented a£60,000,000 plus investment in health for current and future generations. Most of the other improvements in secondary care have been made possible by this modern medical facility which contains nearly £6 million of new medical equipment.
Work on the project commenced on 8 July 2002 involving radically altering the inner areas of the existing Buildings 1–4, to adapt them to the needs of a modern hospital.
The hospital is operated by theGibraltar Health Authority,a department of theGovernment of Gibraltarwith the purpose of providing health care to the residents of Gibraltar.
The hospital is designed for some 210 beds coveringortho trauma,maternity,surgical,medicalandpaediatric wards,two mainoperating theatresand an emergency back up theatre, ahydrotherapypoolwith a fullrehabilitation clinic,day surgeryunit andcardiac rehabilitation,accident and emergency departmentwith provision for major and minor incidents andophthalmic clinics.There is a modernmortuarywith much-improved waiting and viewing facilities adjacent to a newchapel.The present School of Health Studies has relocated from Bleak House at Europa Point to a dedicated area in Block 3 and the office of the Chief Executive and the administrative staff has moved from Johnstone's Passage to Block 1.
Gallery
[edit]-
Sister Constance Worthington of the old Colonial Hospital (1891).
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A typical ward at the old Colonial Hospital (20th century).
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King Georgeentering the Colonial Hospital in Gibraltar during his royal visit (1935).
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The façade of the new St Bernard's Hospital at Europort (2008).
References
[edit]- ^Smith, Audrey (30 May – 1 June 2007)."Gibraltar 1st International Conference of Biomedical Science"(PDF).Gibraltar Health Authority. p. 3. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 27 March 2009.Retrieved19 March2009.
- ^Fromow, George (2007). "The Legacy of Juan Mateos".DVD Documentary Highlighting the Origins of St Bernard's Hospital, Based on Historical Facts.Gibraltar: HighFlyer Production.
- ^Martin, Robert Montgomery (1837).History of the British possessions in the Mediterranean: comprising Gibraltar, Malta, Gozo, and the Ionian islands.Whittaker & co. p. 95.Retrieved19 October2012.
Further reading
[edit]- Benady, Dr. Sam G.(1994).Civil Hospital and Epidemics in Gibraltar(1st ed.). Grendon, Northampshire, United Kingdom: Gibraltar Books Ltd. p. 132.
- Dr. Cecil Montegriffo (19 August 1978)."History of Medicine in Gibraltar".The British Medical Journal.2(6136): 552–555.doi:10.1136/bmj.2.6136.552.PMC1606962.PMID359087.
External links
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)