The NHS Louisa Jordan was a temporary emergency critical care hospital created to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland. It was located within the

SEC Centre The SEC Centre (originally known as the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre until 2017) is Scotland's largest exhibition centre, locate ...

in Glasgow. __TOC__

History

Operated by

NHS Scotland NHS Scotland, sometimes styled NHSScotland, is the publicly funded healthcare system in Scotland and one of the four systems that make up the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. It operates 14 territorial NHS boards across Scotland, ...

, it was planned to have an initial capacity of 300 beds, and the capability of expanding to accommodate 1000. It became operationally ready on 19 April 2020, and was officially opened via video by

Princess Anne Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950), is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the only sister of K ...

on 30 April 2020. The hospital was partially repurposed to allow other activities to take place; in August 2020 it was announced that the hospital would be kept open throughout the winter. It was being used as a training hub, along with holding orthopaedic and plastic surgery outpatient consultations. NHS Louisa Jordan hosted COVID-19 vaccine clinics from 8 December 2020. The hospital's last day of operation was 31 March 2021 and its mass vaccination clinic relocated to the

OVO Hydro The OVO Hydro is a multi-purpose indoor arena located within the Scottish Event Campus in Glasgow, Scotland, and is the largest entertainment venue in Scotland. The arena was initially named The Hydro after its main sponsor Scottish Hydro El ...

. The last day of the vaccination clinic was 18 July 2021.

Naming

The facility was named after Scottish nurse

Louisa Jordan Louisa Jordan (24 July 1878 – 6 March 1915) was a Scottish nurse who died in service during the First World War. Early life and nursing career Louisa Jordan was born at 279 Gairbraid Street (now Maryhill Road) in the Maryhill area of Glasg ...

, who died in service during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in the Serbian typhus epidemic. Jordan's family members were grateful for the naming of the hospital. Her great nephew Murray Crone stated: "The members of our family have been very touched by the dedication, as we have been familiar with her story for many years. It is so pleasing that she would be chosen now as a representative of all the volunteers in the Scottish Women’s Hospital during WW1, coping with a Typhus epidemic in Serbia. And, of course, also representing all the present day medical workers doing their utmost at this time, fighting against Covid-19." Former Labour MP

Douglas Alexander Douglas Garven Alexander (born 26 October 1967) is a Labour politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Paisley and Renfrewshire South, previously Paisley South, from 1997 until his defeat in 2015. During this time, he served as ...

criticised the SNP-led Scottish Government over the naming of the facility, as it did not use the NHS Nightingale Hospitals naming convention which, at the time of completion, had been used to refer to all COVID-19 relief hospitals in the rest of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. NHS Wales similarly decided not to use the Nightingale convention and later adopted the name Dragon's Heart Hospital for its primary COVID-19 field hospital following a public consultation.

References

External links

* Louisa Jordan Hospital Louisa Jordan Hospital 2020 establishments in Scotland Hospitals in Glasgow {{COVID-19-stub