Organisation
The rules of the Hospital were granted by King Manuel I in 1504, and were based on the rules of contemporary hospitals in Florence and Siena. Initially the Hospital had three infirmaries (enfermarias) located in the upper storey, where the ill were treated. The groundfloor was occupied by the Hospital personnel (around 50 people, many of whom lived in the building). The first floor housed dependencies like the kitchen, refectory and pharmacy, as well as rooms for abandoned children (called expostos), beggars and the mentally ill.
Initially, it is estimated that the Hospital was capable of housing around 250 people, with 2500-3000 people being treated every year. Even though the premises were victim of several fires, the facilities were greatly expanded until the middle of 18th century, when the Hospital had around 12 infirmaries. It was the most important health institution in the city and an important centre for the practical study of anatomy and medicine in Portugal.
The Hospital was initially administered by a provedor appointed by the King, but after 1564 the Hospital was run by the Irmandade da Misericórdia (Brotherhood of the Mercy), an important Portuguese religious charity established in 1498 that exists to this day.
Read more about this topic: Hospital Real De Todos Os Santos
Famous quotes containing the word organisation:
“It is because the body is a machine that education is possible. Education is the formation of habits, a superinducing of an artificial organisation upon the natural organisation of the body.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–1895)