Galicia’s Main Hospital in Lwów at the turn of the 19th century

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The system of medical care in Galicia in the last fifty years of Austrian rule depended on private infirmaries and public, or general, hospitals. The latter were run and financed by the provincial authority. General hospitals were not a great burden for the provincial administration as the central budget provided generous funds for their upkeep. At the turn of the 19th century three hospitals in Lwów acquired the status of general hospitals. They were (1) The Galician General, or Main, Hospital, (2) Hospital for the Mentally Ill at Kulparków, and (3) the Paediatric Hospital of St. Sophia’s. The history of the Main Hospital in Lwów goes back to the 1780s. It was divided into three wards, a general infirmary, a maternity ward, and an asylum for the mentally ill. Until the 1870s the general infirmary was looked after by the city, while the central authorities were responsible for the other two departments. The hospital’s complex legal status was blamed for chronic irregularities in its functioning, especially at the time of transition to autonomy. There was no radical improvement until 1 January 1876, when all the three wards were brought under single management and declared a general hospital to be financed from the provincial (Galician) budget. Formally, the hospital was run by the Provincial Department (Wydział Krajowy). The Superintendent (Dyrektor) was in charge of the medical and administrative staff. In accordance with an agreement signed in December 1870 the nursing was done by 26 nuns from the Congregation of St. Vincent de Paul Sisters of Charity All patients in need, regardless of their status, sex, religion or nationality, were admitted into the general hospital. As the number of admission rose year by year, the provincial authorities had to commission new buildings and approve plans of further expansion of the hospital. The construction of a new wing of the Main Hospital and new buildings for the maternity and isolation wards could be completed; unfortunately, other projects had to be shelved due mainly to shortage of funds from the provincial budget.