Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital
Gauteng Department of Health
Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital entrance
Geography
Location	Soweto,Johannesburg,Gauteng, South Africa
Coordinates	26°15′39″S27°56′35″E / 26.26083°S 27.94306°E /-26.26083; 27.94306
Organisation
Care system	Public
Type	Hospital
Affiliated university	University of the Witwatersrand
Services
Emergency department	10177
Beds	3,400
History
Former name	Imperial Military Hospital, Baragwanath
Opened	1942; 83 years ago (1942)
Links
Website	www.chrishanibaragwanathhospital.co.za
Lists	Hospitals in South Africa

Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital (colloquially known asBara) is a hospital inJohannesburg,South Africa. It is thelargest hospital inAfrica and seventh largest hospital in the world.^[1] It has 6,760 staff members, 3,400 beds and occupies 70 ha (170 acres). The hospital is located inSoweto, south of Johannesburg. It is one of the 40Gauteng provincial hospitals, and is financed and managed by theGauteng Provincial Department of Health. It is ateaching hospital for theUniversity of the Witwatersrand Medical School, along with theCharlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital,Helen Joseph Hospital and theRahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital.^[2] It is an accredited Level onetrauma centre. The hospital hastrauma andemergency medicine facilities.

TheImperial Military Hospital, Baragwanath, was built in what today isDiepkloof in 1942 for convalescing British and Commonwealth soldiers. Field MarshalJan Smuts noted during the opening ceremonies that the facility would be used for the area's black population after the war. In 1947King George VI visited and presented medals to the troops there. From this start, grew Baragwanath Hospital (as it became known after 1948), reputedly the largest hospital in the southern hemisphere. In 1997 another name change followed, with the sprawling facility now known asChris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in honour of theSouth African Communist Party leader who was assassinated in 1993.^[3]

During theCOVID-19 pandemic in South Africa, the Gauteng government spent R 528 million on the hospital; this included a new 500-bed facility. In August 2020, thePublic Protector found administrative deficiencies that led to inefficiencies in the delivery of primary health care services. The hospital owes overR 66 million to the City of Johannesburg.^[4]

More than two thousand patients check into the hospital's specialised clinics and out-patient departments daily, from catchment areas as far asKlerksdorp.

• University of Witwatersrand.
• Just Another Day at the World's Biggest Hospital on NPR'sAll Things Considered, 1 December 2003. Includes an audio report and a flash presentation.
• Baragwanath History in South Africa: The Baragwanath family history in South Africa.
• 24 hours of trauma TV documentary on the trauma unit by Aljazeera English. 9 January 2009.

• Hospital buildings completed in 1941
• 1941 establishments in South Africa
• Teaching hospitals in South Africa
• Buildings and structures in Soweto
• Hospitals established in 1941
• University of the Witwatersrand
• Hospitals in Johannesburg
• 20th-century architecture in South Africa

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