History
The 67th General Hospital was authorised on 3 March 1941, and activated 1 September 1942 as an American Army Hospital and occupied by the U.S. Army Medical Corps.
After the war, it continued in use as a Ministry of Pensions Hospital and only became a General Hospital within the National Health Service in 1951.
The first major development of the hospital was the Queens Building which opened in 1987. This houses Accident and Emergency, Orthopedics, Endoscopy and Opthalmics as well as Therapy Services. The Duchess Building opened in 1995 to house Medical and Care of the Elderly, Outpatients, Oral Surgery and Orthodontics, Dermatology, Diagnostic Imaging, Pharmacy, and Paramedical Support. An extension to the Post Medical Centre was opened in 2005. Work on a Cancer Centre started in 2007.
Many events took place over the years that affected staff and patients in unusual ways. Two of these took place in 1978, which was eventful for many and gained considerable publicity – the great snow of February 1978 and the Taunton train fire of July 1978. The helicopter became a familiar sight during the snow siege – the first landed at very short notice, bringing a patient with a head injury – an unusual group of staff carried him from the helicopter to the hospital through deep snowdrifts. After a few days, these flights became routine, bringing in mothers in labour and taking out supplies to smaller hospitals.
Musgrove Park has had two of many memorable Royal visits. These were by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother in 1959; and by H.R.H. Princess Anne in 1970, when she opened the Intensive Therapy Unit.
In October 2006, a new multi-storey car park was opened, provided under a 25 year Public-private partnership (PPP). The Cedars car park has 736 spaces and is operated by Dutch company Q-Park. This was built together with the addition of the new Cardiac Extension to the hospital, which provides primary angioplasty.
On 1 December 2007, Taunton and Somerset NHS Trust became a Foundation Trust making Musgrove a Foundation Trust hospital. As a Foundation Trust, the hospital will now have greater freedoms over its finances and the 5200 people who have registered as members will have a crucial role to play in the future direction of the hospital.
Read more about this topic: Musgrove Park Hospital
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