Somerset Hospital | |
---|---|
Western Cape Department of Health | |
Geography | |
Location | Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa |
Coordinates | 33°54′17″S18°25′01″E / 33.9047°S 18.4169°E |
Organisation | |
Care system | Department of Health |
Funding | Public hospital |
Type | Teaching, District General |
Affiliated university | University of Cape Town |
Patron | Dr Samuel Bailey |
Services | |
Beds | 330 |
History | |
Opened | 1818 |
Links | |
Lists | Hospitals in South Africa |
The Somerset Hospital is a district general hospital in the Green Point area of Cape Town, South Africa opened in 1864 and has been declared a provincial heritage site. [1]
The hospital replaced one of the same name in Chiapinni Street, [1] which had been founded by Dr Samuel Bailey in 1818 as the first civilian hospital in Cape Town. [2] It was named after Lord Charles Somerset the governor of the Cape Colony who gave land for the construction. [3] The Chavonnes Battery was used as an isolation and convalescent wing. [4]
The cornerstone for the new hospital was laid on 18 August 1859 by the Cape Governor Sir George Grey. [5] In addition to the appointment of medical staff, nurses were recruited from the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, St Thomas' Hospital in London including Sister Helen Bowden, who in 1877 became the first fully qualified nurse to be appointed as Matron of Somerset Hospital. Subsequently, the hospital established its own nurse training school, [3] becoming the first hospital to train non-white nurses. [6]
From 1918 until 1937, when the Groote Schuur Hospital opened it was the main academic hospital of the University of Cape Town. [1] A new West Wing opened in 1973 for white patients. [7] The old building was renamed the north wing, not because of their position but the N meant for non-white patients and the W of West Wing signified that it was for Whites. [3] The high incidence of HIV infections amongst the patients led to the establishment of the hospital as a prime referral centre for the treatment of AIDS. [3]
Since then various plans have been announced for the development of the grounds including hotels, offices and residential accommodation. [8] The hospital is also home to the Cape Medical Museum. [9] [10]
In 2008 the hospital appealed for funds from local businesses to establish a new trauma unit and a ward for women suffering from a spontaneous miscarriage. [11] In 2010 it opened a new measles ward following a rise in measles cases in Cape Town. [12] In 2010 a studio was built, along with its own lift, on the top of the hospital for use by BBC presenters during 2010 FIFA World Cup matches at the nearby stadium. [13] Additionally in 2010 plans were announced to move the hospital to a new site in the northern sector of the city, to serve the densely populated West Coast region. [14]
The hospital assumed a coat of arms in the late 1950s and registered it at the Bureau of Heraldry in 1970 : Per pale, dexter Gules, three annulets Or and sinister barry of six Azure and Argent. The registered blazon incorrectly gives the sinister side as "barry of six Argent and Azure". [15]
In heraldry, an ordinary is one of the two main types of charges, beside the mobile charges. An ordinary is a simple geometrical figure, bounded by straight lines and running from side to side or top to bottom of the shield. There are also some geometric charges known as subordinaries, which have been given lesser status by some heraldic writers, though most have been in use as long as the traditional ordinaries. Diminutives of ordinaries and some subordinaries are charges of the same shape, though thinner. Most of the ordinaries are theoretically said to occupy one-third of the shield; but this is rarely observed in practice, except when the ordinary is the only charge.
Groote Schuur Hospital is a large government-funded teaching hospital situated on the slopes of Devil's Peak in the city of Cape Town, South Africa. It was founded in 1938 and is famous for being the institution where the first human-to-human heart transplant took place, conducted by University of Cape Town-educated surgeon Christiaan Barnard on the patient Louis Washkansky.
St James's University Hospital is a tertiary hospital in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England and is popularly known as Jimmy's. It is the 8th largest hospital by beds in the United Kingdom, popularised for its television coverage from 1987 to 1996. It is managed by the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
Simon's Town, sometimes spelled Simonstown, is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa and is home to Naval Base Simon's Town, the South African Navy's largest base. It is located on the shores of Simon's Bay in False Bay, on the eastern side of the Cape Peninsula. For more than two centuries, it has been a naval base and harbour. The town is named after Simon van der Stel, an early governor of the Cape Colony.
Leeds General Infirmary, also known as the LGI, is a large teaching hospital based in the centre of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, and is part of the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. Its previous name The General Infirmary at Leeds is still sometimes used.
The coat of arms of Cape Town is the traditional symbol of the municipality of Cape Town. The original arms from the 20th century are no longer in official use, though no new arms have yet been adopted.
Musgrove Park Hospital is a large NHS hospital located in Taunton, Somerset, England, run by Somerset NHS Foundation Trust. Originally a US Army General Hospital during the Second World War, it became an NHS hospital in 1951.
The Valkenberg Hospital is a large, government-funded, tertiary psychiatric hospital in the city of Cape Town, South Africa.
Green Point is an affluent suburb on the Atlantic Seaboard of Cape Town, South Africa located to the north west of the central business district. It is home to Cape Town Stadium, a major sporting venue that was built for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Sea Point promenade runs through the suburb, connecting it to Three Anchor Bay and Sea Point, a popular Jewish neighbourhood. Somerset Road forms the main thoroughfare lined by restaurants, cafés, delis, boutiques and nightclubs.
Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa was opened in 1956 through public subscription as a memorial to soldiers lost in the Second World War. The suggestion that the memorial take the form of a children's hospital was proposed by Vyvyan U.T. Watson. Mr Watson, a prominent businessman, had lost his first born and only son, Peter Tennant Watson, at about four years old, to an outbreak of diphtheria in Cape Town. Mr Watson was a major force in steering the organization of the building of the hospital. The Peter Pan statue on the hospital grounds, sculpted by Ivan Mitford-Barberton, was donated by Mr Watson and his wife, Gwendolyn. Mr Watson was later President of the South African Red Cross Society. It is one of two dedicated children's public hospitals in sub-Saharan Africa, and one of only a few dedicated children's hospitals in the Southern hemisphere.
In heraldry, a pile is a charge usually counted as one of the ordinaries. It consists of a wedge emerging from the upper edge of the shield and converging to a point near the base. If it touches the base, it is blazoned throughout.
The Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital was a United States Public Health Service hospital on Ellis Island, in New York Harbor, that operated from 1902 to 1951. The hospital is part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument. While the monument is managed by the National Park Service as part of the National Parks of New York Harbor office, the south side of Ellis Island, including the hospital, is managed by the non-profit Save Ellis Island Foundation and has been off-limits to the general public since its closing in 1954.
Cecilia Makiwane Hospital (CMH) is a large, provincial, government-funded district general hospital situated in the Mdantsane township near East London, Eastern Cape in South Africa. It is a tertiary teaching hospital and forms part of the East London Hospital Complex with Frere Hospital. It is named after Cecilia Makiwane, the first African woman to become a professional nurse in South Africa.
Tygerberg Hospital is a tertiary public hospital located in Parow. The hospital was officially opened in 1976 and is the largest district general hospital in the Western Cape and the second largest hospital in South Africa, with the capacity for 1899 beds. It acts as a teaching hospital in conjunction with the Stellenbosch University's Health Science Faculty. To become a patient at Tygerberg, a person must be referred by a primary or secondary health care facility. Over 3.6 million people receive health care from Tygerberg, either directly or via its secondary hospitals, such as Paarl and Worcester Hospital. During the normal working day there are about 10,000 people on hospital grounds.
Heartlands Hospital, formerly EastBirmingham District Hospital, is an acute general hospital in Bordesley Green, Birmingham, England. It is managed by University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust.
Karl Bremer Hospital is a district general hospital, situated in Bellville, Western Cape, South Africa. It was opened in 1956 with one ward. It was originally an academic hospital for medical students of Stellenbosch University and was utilised for this purpose until 1976, after which it changed to a hospital catering for private patients.
The Miller General Hospital was a hospital in Greenwich, London from 1884 until 1974. It was developed adjacent to an earlier dispensary, and was the first British hospital designed with circular wards, and one of the first to have an X-ray department.
The Transvaal Memorial Hospital for Children, based in Johannesburg, was the first dedicated children's hospital in South Africa when it opened in 1923. The hospital would remain open until 1978 when its functions were moved to the then newly opened Johannesburg General Hospital. The building is a heritage listed monument and parts of the building are currently used by community groups dedicated to the service of children.
Helen Joseph Hospital is a public hospital based in Auckland Park, Johannesburg, South Africa. Prior to 1997, it was known as the J.G. Strijdom Hospital. As a teaching hospital, its affiliated to the University of Witwatersrand's Medical School.
Dulwich Community Hospital was a hospital located in Dulwich, in South London.
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