Hospital San Juan de Dios is the name of several hospitals in the Republic of Colombia. The most important are located in Bogotá, Cúcuta and Pamplona.
The one located in Cúcuta is now a library.
The hospital of this name in Bogotá houses the National Institute of Immunology (Instituto Nacional de Inmunología) where important work on vaccines for malaria is carried out. This is one of the oldest serving hospitals in Latin America. It was founded in 1723. It initially consisted of three buildings of republican architectural style. The main building was modeled after the Pasteur Institute in France. A more modern high-rise building was constructed in the 1960s to house the hospital, and the original buildings were left unrepaired. Dr. Manuel Elkin Patarroyo housed his lab (Instituto Colombiano de Immunología) in the old buildings, remodeling them to their initial architectural beauty. Patarroyo's lab was one of the leading institutes in the world working on a vaccine for malaria.
The hospital remained one of the main academic medical centers until 1999 and was the main hospital for Colombia's state medical school (Universidad Nacional). The hospital was owned by a foundation, and after the restructuring of the medical system in Colombia to a universal private insurance capitated system, the hospital became financially insolvent because it stopped receiving direct state support. The bankruptcy of the hospital led to expropriation of its assets by lenders. All of the equipment of Patarroyo's lab was repossessed and the lab closed. Currently the hospital remains closed.
Famous quotes containing the words hospital, san and/or juan:
“The church is a sort of hospital for men’s souls, and as full of quackery as the hospital for their bodies. Those who are taken into it live like pensioners in their Retreat or Sailor’s Snug Harbor, where you may see a row of religious cripples sitting outside in sunny weather.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Today, San Francisco has experienced a double tragedy of incredible proportions. As acting mayor, I order an immediate state of mourning in our city. The city and county of San Francisco must and will pull itself together at this time. We will carry on as best as we possibly can.... I think we all have to share the same sense of shame and the same sense of outrage.”
—Dianne Feinstein (b. 1933)
“Is that the Craig Jurgesen that Teddy Roosevelt gave you?... And you used it at San Juan Hill defending liberty. Now you want to destroy it.”
—Laurence Stallings (1894–1968)