Somerset Hospital
Somerset Hospital in Green Point opened in 1864, but its history began with an earlier Somerset Hospital on Chiappini Street, founded by Dr Samuel Bailey in 1818 as Cape Town’s first civilian hospital. The hospital was named after Lord Charles Somerset, Governor of the Cape Colony, who provided the land for the new hospital. The cornerstone of the present hospital was laid on 18 August 1859 by Sir George Grey, then Governor of the Cape.
The Chavonnes Battery was incorporated into the hospital complex and used for isolation and convalescent purposes. Nursing staff were recruited from Britain, including nurses associated with the Florence Nightingale school at St Thomas’ Hospital in London. Sister Helen Bowden joined Somerset Hospital in 1877 and became its first fully qualified matron. The hospital later established its own nurse training school and was the first hospital in South Africa to train non-white nurses.
Somerset Hospital was also the first hospital in South Africa to be used for the training of doctors. From 1918 to 1937, it served as the main teaching hospital for the University of Cape Town, until Groote Schuur Hospital opened and took over as the university’s academic hospital. A West Wing was added to Somerset Hospital in 1973 to provide additional patient accommodation.
Somerset Hospital circa 1870
circa 1940
The hospital played an important role in South Africa’s response to HIV and AIDS and, in 2005, established the country’s first antiretroviral distribution centre.
Somerset Hospital remains in use today and is a provincial heritage site. The complex is also home to the Cape Medical Museum, which preserves and documents the history of medicine and healthcare in the Western Cape
Portswood Road, Green Point
.
