Western Clinic (Plague Hospital) 1/F and Western Dispensary G/F [1909- ] | Gwulo: Old Hong Kong

Western Clinic (Plague Hospital) 1/F and Western Dispensary G/F [1909- ]

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Submitted by annelisec on Sun, 2016-04-24 00:50
Current condition: 
In use
Date Place completed: 
1909-01-01
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Photos that show this place

1897
1909
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Comments

Submitted by David on Mon, 2016-04-25 09:02.

I'm not sure we've got the right location for this. Despite the photo's title, "Little Isolation hospital for Plague patients opposite the old Basel mission house in Hong Kong.", the photo doesn't show the steep slopes around Western Street. Also that would be an odd site for an isolation hospital, in the middle of the densley packed housing of Sai Ying Poon.

I guess the photo shows somewhere in Kennedy Town, but I haven't matched a building to be sure.

Submitted by David on Mon, 2016-04-25 12:31.

It is near Western Street after all, we can see it on the right of this photo:

Basel Mission and Isolation Hospital
Basel Mission and Isolation Hospital, by christoph

 

Submitted by annelisec on Mon, 2016-04-25 15:00.

Who can translate the sign on the gate (see new photo) ?

Submitted by tngan on Mon, 2016-04-25 16:35.

Hi there,

That could be loosely translated to Western District Clinic.  Western District being the local district at the time.

T

Submitted by LizB on Mon, 2016-04-25 21:36.

I have a copy of the Museum of Medical Sciences' 2011 booklet, "The Taipingshan Medical Heritage Trail", which suggests on p. 43 that this building is now being used as a heritage education centre. Is this correct? If so, perhaps the status of the building should be changed above.

Submitted by annelisec on Tue, 2016-04-26 06:43.

I found a photo showing the original and current rooflines.  It was extensively remodled (in 1938) when it became the annex to the new hospital, but it certainly looks like the original building to me.

Pity I can't read the plaque in the photo.

Submitted by LizB on Tue, 2016-04-26 08:05.

This is what the "Taipingshan Medical Heritage Trail" booklet has to say about this building (p.43):

"The Western District CPD on Third Street was opened in 1909, having been built on land granted by the Government but with the expenses met by public subscriptions among the local Chinese. A plaque bearing the names of the donors still stands at the entrance to the building.  The ground floor was used as a public dispensary and the district plague hospital occupied the upper floor. Patients confirmed by the CPD doctor to be suffering from plague were admitted to the hospital.  Since effective treatment was not available then, the mortality rate was still high, but the patients had a place where they could be looked after, and die in dignity instead of being left on the streets. As the number of plague cases decreased in the 1920s (the disease disappeared in Hong Kong after 1929), the need for such plague hospitals diminished. Presently the building is used as a heritage education centre."