Hospital History

A hospital is an institution for health care providing treatment by specialised staff and equipment, and often but not always providing for longer-term patient stays.

Today, hospitals are usually funded by the state, health organizations (for profit or non-profit), health insurances or charities, including direct charitable donations. In history, however, they were often founded and funded by religious orders or charitable individuals and leaders. Similarly, modern-day hospitals are largely staffed by professional physicians, surgeons and nurses, whereas in history, this work was usually done by the founding religious orders or by volunteers.

History

In ancient cultures, religion and medicine were linked. The earliest known institutions aiming to provide cure were Egyptian temples. Greek temples dedicated to the healer-god Asclepius might admit the sick, who would wait for guidance from the god in a dream. The Romans adopted his worship. Under his Roman name Æsculapius, he was provided with a temple (291 BC) on an island in the Tiber in Rome, where similar rites were performed.

Piercey & Scarborough (2008) report on the origins of the hospital:

As early as 4000 BC religions identified certain of their deities with healing. The temples of Saturn, and later of Asclepius in Asia Minor, were recognized as healing centres. Brahmanic hospitals were established in Sri Lanka as early as 431 BC, and King Aśoka established a chain of hospitals in Hindustān about 230 BC. Around 100 BC the Romans established hospitals (valetudinaria) for the treatment of their sick and injured soldiers; their care was important because it was upon the integrity of the legions that the power of Rome was based.

On hospitals under Asoka, and the scholarship endorsing them, Dominik Wujastyk—in his paper The Nurses should be able to Sing and Play Instruments—claims that: "I have been assured that history 101 textbooks in North America routinely make the same claim. This assertion continues to be repeated and propagated in many books and websites. There is absolutely no evidence for these A´sokan hospitals, in A´soka’s inscriptions or elsewhere. They are ghosts, and we need to exorcise them."[3] However, Stanley Finger (2001) in his book Origins of Neuroscience: A History of Explorations Into Brain Function provides evidence of an Ashokan edict reading: "Everywhere King Piyadasi (Asoka) erected two kinds of hospitals, hospitals for people and hospitals for animals. Where there were no healing herbs for people and animals, he ordered that they be bought and planted." Similar views are held by Piercey & Scarborough in the Encyclopedia Britannica (2008).

The first teaching hospital where students were authorized to methodically practice on patients under the supervision of physicians as part of their education, was the Academy of Gundishapur in the Persian Empire. One expert has argued that "to a very large extent, the credit for the whole hospital system must be given to Persia".