The San Juan de Dios Hospital is a

public hospital A public hospital, or government hospital, is a hospital which is government owned and is fully funded by the government and operates solely off the money that is collected from taxpayers to fund healthcare initiatives. In some countries, this typ ...

located in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. It is part of the public healthcare network in the western portion of

Santiago Metropolitan Region Santiago Metropolitan Region ( es, link=no, Región Metropolitana de Santiago) is one of Chile's 16 first-order administrative divisions. It is the country's only landlocked administrative region and contains the nation's capital, Santiago. Mos ...

, providing health services to residents of

Quinta Normal Quinta Normal is a commune of Chile located in Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region. It is named after a large park in the area. Demographics According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Quinta Normal spans a ...

Lo Prado Lo Prado () is a Chilean commune located in Santiago, which is itself part of the Metropolitan region of Chile. It is part of the Greater Santiago urban area. Demographics According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Lo P ...

Renca Renca is a commune of Chile located in Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region. It was founded on May 6, 1894. Demographics According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Renca spans an area of and has 133,500 inha ...

Cerro Navia Cerro Navia (Spanish for "Navia Hill") is a commune of Chile located in Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region. It is one of the most densely populated communes of Santiago, Chile. History Officially established on March 17, 1981, it ...

and

Pudahuel Pudahuel (, Mapudungun "place of pools/water" or "place where seagulls gather") is a commune of Chile located in Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region. Santiago's international airport Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez is located there. ...

within the borders of the city. It also provide healthcare to patients from the

Melipilla Province Melipilla Province ( es, Provincia de Melipilla) is one of six provinces in the Santiago Metropolitan Region of central Chile. The provincial capital is the city of Melipilla. Administration As a province, Melipilla is a second-level administra ...

, including

Melipilla Melipilla (Mapudungun for "four Pillans") is a Chilean commune and capital city of the province of the same name, located in the Santiago Metropolitan Region southwest of the nation's capital. The commune spans an area of . Demographics Acco ...

Alhué Alhué () is a Chilean town and commune located in Melipilla Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region. Demographics According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Alhué spans an area of and has 4,435 inhabitants (2,343 men an ...

Curacaví Curacaví () is a city and commune in the Melipilla Province of central Chile's Santiago Metropolitan Region. Its climate is temperate Mediterranean with a long dry season, experiencing high temperatures in summer and low temperatures in winter. ...

, María Pinto and San Pedro; as well as the

Talagante Province Talagante Province ( es, Provincia de Talagante, ) is one of six provinces of the Santiago Metropolitan Region in central Chile. The capital is the city of Talagante, located approximately southwest of the national capital of Santiago. The most ...

, which includes the municipalities of

Isla de Maipo Isla de Maipo is a town and commune of the Talagante Province in central Chile's Santiago Metropolitan Region. Geography Isla de Maipo can be found in the Chilean Central Valley approximately southwest of the metropolitan area of Santiago and ab ...

, El Monte,

Padre Hurtado Padre Hurtado () is a Chilean commune in the Talagante Province, in the Metropolitan Region. Part of the Greater Santiago conurbation and one of the outermost communes of it, the commune is named after Saint Alberto Hurtado, who was popularly k ...

, Peñaflor and

Talagante Talagante () is a commune and the capital city of the province of the same name in the Santiago Metropolitan Region of central Chile. The word ''Talagante'' in Quechua comes from ''talacanta'', meaning "Lazo de Hechicero", which was the proper n ...

. Established in 1552, it is the oldest hospital institution in

. The hospital complex consists of four buildings: the main tower, the Centro Diagnóstico y Terapéutico (CDT) Prof. Dr. Rodolfo Armas Cruz, the Ex Posta 3 and the Centro de Diabetes y Nutrición Helen Lee Lassen.

History

The San Juan de Dios Hospital was created shortly after the foundation of

and is considered to be the first hospital in the city and the country. The exact date of its foundation is still debatable, but it is believed it was opened on October 3, 1552, at the end of the government of

Pedro de Valdivia Pedro Gutiérrez de Valdivia or Valdiva (; April 17, 1497 – December 25, 1553) was a Spanish conquistador and the first royal governor of Chile. After serving with the Spanish army in Italy and Flanders, he was sent to South America in 1534, wh ...

, under the name ''Hospital de Nuestra Señora del Socorro''. Its original location was on the south side of the

Alameda An alameda is a Avenue (landscape), street or path lined with trees () and may refer to: Places Canada *Alameda, Saskatchewan, town in Saskatchewan **Grant Devine Dam, formerly ''Alameda Dam'', a dam and reservoir in southern Saskatchewan Chile ...

, just across the street from the Iglesia San Francisco. In 1617 the hospital went on to be administered by the

Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God The Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God, officially the Hospitaller Order of the Brothers of Saint John of God (abbreviated as O.H.), are a Catholic religious order founded in 1572. In Italian they are also known commonly as the Fatebenef ...

. From the colonial era to the present, the hospital has been an important part of the history of the city. Since 1863 the hospital is considered as a

teaching hospital A teaching hospital is a hospital or medical centre that provides medical education and training to future and current health professionals. Teaching hospitals are almost always affiliated with one or more universities and are often co-located ...

. Following the demolition of the old building in 1944, the San Juan de Dios Hospital was relocated, rebuilt and reopened on May 1, 1954. The hospital is currently located on Matucana Avenue, facing Quinta Normal Park.

References

{{coord, -33.442, -70.679, type:landmark_globe:earth_region:CL, display=title Buildings and structures in Santiago Hospitals in Chile