| St Bernard's Hospital | |
|---|---|
| Gibraltar Health Authority | |
.jpg) | |
 Gibraltar Health Authority ambulances parked outside St Bernard's Hospital | |
  Shown in Gibraltar | |
| Geography | |
| Location | Blocks 1-4 Europort, Europort Avenue, Gibraltar |
| Coordinates | 36°08′36″N5°21′34″W / 36.143405°N 5.359491°W /36.143405; -5.359491 |
| 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 Hospital is the only public hospital andteaching hospital in theBritish overseas territory ofGibraltar.[1]
In 1567, duringGibraltar's Spanish period, a retiredSpanishinnkeeper by the name ofJuan Mateos converted 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]
The existing Spanish hospital in Gibraltar was taken over by the British authorities as amilitary hospital after theAnglo-Dutch capture of Gibraltar in 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.
Much of the building fell into ruins after it was severely damaged byFranco-Spanish bombardment 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]
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 VI Wing in front of the hospital in the 1950s and theMackintosh Wing in 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.
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 Gibraltar with the purpose of providing health care to the residents of Gibraltar.
The hospital is designed for some 210 beds coveringortho trauma,maternity,surgical,medical andpaediatric wards, two mainoperating theatres and an emergency back up theatre, ahydrotherapypool with a fullrehabilitation clinic,day surgery unit andcardiac rehabilitation,accident and emergency department with provision for major and minor incidents andophthalmic clinics. There is a modernmortuary with 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.
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