Medical Districts
In 1683 Iceland was made an amt within the kingdom of Denmark-Norway. In 1770 the country was divided into two amts, the South- and West Amt and the North- and East Amt and the borders of the farthings were changed according to the new division. In effect, the farthings were replaced by the amts.
In 1651 the king had granted permission for the construction of one hospital in each farthing. These were not hospitals in the modern sense but primarily intended as lazarets or leper colonies that later became shelters for vagrants and beggars. In 1766 the office of farthing doctor (fjórðungslæknir) was created, one for each farthing. Soon, however, the medical districts were further divided, first with the introduction of another doctor for the west farthing in 1781 and then another for the eastern part of the south farthing in 1799. For most of the 19th century these were the six medical districts in Iceland. In 1944 the state agreed to increase their funding of three hospitals outside of Reykjavík which would be designated as farthing hospitals (fjórðungssjúkrahús). These were the hospitals of Ísafjörður, Akureyri and Neskaupstaður.
Read more about this topic: Farthings Of Iceland
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