Hospital

As you can likely imagine, hospitals are rather old. People have long been seeking a way to fight time, cure diseases and live longer. If it wasn’t a hospital, it was a spiritual deity. Either way, faith and science crossed paths, worked together, and the center point of science was the hospital. At the end of the 4th century a medical revolution took place with the founding of the very first Christian hospital in the Byzantine Empire. No doubt there might have been hospitals elsewhere, but historical evidence can get a bit muddy when you’re talking the 4th century.

Around the same time medieval Islamic hospitals were also taking shape in what is today Baghdad. Like Christian hospitals, Islamic hospitals served as centers of medical treatment and even retirement homes depending on the demand for services. The first Spanish hospital was founded in 580 A.D. in Merida, Spain, and in 650 a French one popped up in Paris. This Parisian hospital, the Hotel-Dieu, is still in operation believe it or not, and considered the oldest hospital in the world.

On to the present. Hospitals in 2019 are cutting edge centers of not only care but research as well. The renowned Mayo Clinic based out of Rochester, Minnesota is a comprehensive care center that has been in operation for 150 plus years. So successful, Mayo has extended operations into Florida and Arizona and additionally operates smaller hospitals (19 in total) over 5 states. The center has produced a whopping 7,200 peer-reviewed publications which is unsurpassed in the larger medical world.  

Another powerhouse Stateside, the Cleveland Clinic holds the esteemed position as being the site of the first facial transplant in the world. In 2017 alone over 7.6 million patients visited the Cleveland Clinic’s various hospitals located in the States, Canada and the United Arab Emirates. An absolute monster, Cleveland’s Miller Family Heart & Vascular Institute has been ranked the best in category for a whopping 25 plus years straight! The clinic has also been recognized for its patient experience program which is second to none.

By far the oldest hospital in Singapore, the Singapore General Hospital first opened its doors in 1821 and has been serving a loyal client base ever since. One million plus patients pass through its doors every year and not only are cutting-edge medical services provided but the hospital takes great care to offer affordable care for all patients. On the education side medical students count on undergraduate and postgraduate educational training and this was the first hospital to receive the Magnet designation in nursing excellence (2010).

No matter what country you find yourself, odds are a decent to great hospital awaits. The advances of medical science continue to amaze.