History of Hospitals

“And great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and they put them at his feet; and he healed them.” Matthew 15:30, ESV

The Bible is filled with stories of healing. The Hebrew Bible recounts numerous stories. Elisha instructs Naaman how to be healed by dipping seven times in the Jordan. Several psalms are cries for healing. And prophecies of Isaiah speak of the future healing of God’s people. In the New Testament, Jesus of Nazareth and his apostles heal many people, as recorded in the Gospels and the book of Acts.

In the early Christian church, hospitals and hospices were established to care for the sick. Among the first were Saint Basil’s hospital in Cappadocia (today’s Turkey) and a hospice in Rome, where Saint Fabiola cared for pilgrims. Soon, monks were operating hospitals across Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Similarly, Jewish communities also opened hospices or hospitals for those who were marginalized in their communities.

As the modern age dawned, these Jewish and Christian hospitals modernized, too. In 1747, John Wesley, the theologian and founder of the Methodist movement, published a collection of health advice, believing God cares about the health of the body as well as the soul. His book provides remedies for hundreds of ailments and advice for preventing disease and maintaining healthy habits. In the mid-1800s, the mother of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale, stated, “I don’t think any words have had a fuller possession of my mind through life than Christ’s putting himself in the place of the sick, the infirm, the prisoner.”

The first modern Jewish hospital also opened in the mid-1800s. The Jews Hospital, renamed Mount Sinai Hospital in 1869, opened in 1852. By 1966, there were 64 Jewish hospitals operating in the United States alone. Both Christian and Jewish hospitals served the needs of all people — including non-Christian and non-Jewish.