Best Public Hospitals In Johannesburg Near Me

4worldlovers: The Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital is the 3rd largest hospital in the world, occupying around 173 acres (0.70 km2), with approximately 3'200 beds and about 6'760 staff members.

The facilities are housed in 429 buildings with a total surface area of 233'795 m2.

Approximately 70% of all admissions are emergencies, including approximately 160 victims of gunshot wounds per month.

Accident, emergency and ambulance represent the busiest services, counting over 350 daily patients. Every year, about 150'000 inpatient and 500'000 outpatient cases are registered.

The Department of Ophthalmology, the St John Eye Hospital, has 111 beds and counts about 50'000 patients per year.

Approximately 60'000 patients per year are treated in the Maternity Hospital.

The hospital is in the Soweto area of Johannesburg, South Africa. (Soweto was a separate municipality from 1983 to 2002, when it was amalgamated to the City of Johannesburg.)

It is one of the 40 Gauteng provincial hospitals, and is financed and run by the Gauteng Provincial Health Authorities.

It is a teaching hospital for the University of the Witwatersrand Medical School, along with the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, Helen Joseph Hospital and the Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital.

This site's purpose is to make the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital easy to find and contact and to give the visitor the most important information about it (not managed by the government).

Achieve the highest level of patient care based on sound scientific principles and administered with empathy and insight.

Train our work corps to be the best equipped and motivated to serve the sick and injured.

Maintain and defend truth, integrity and justice for all, at all times, to the benefit of patients, staff and the community.

The story of Bara started soon after the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand.

A young Cornish lad, John Albert Baragwanath, arrived on the gold fields to make his fortune. The surname "Baragwanath" was derived from the Welsh word "Bara", which means bread, and "gwanath" means wheat.

After trying a number of projects, John Albert started a refreshment post, one day's journey by ox wagon from Johannesburg, at the point where the road to Kimberly joined the road from Vereeniging. Here was good grazing and water. Soon he had a small hostel, "The Wayside Inn", established. However, to the transport drivers, and stagecoach passengers, it was "Baragwanath's Place"or just Baragwanath.

The Second World War brought many changes. As the five years of worldwide disruption and destruction unfolded, the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth had to change rapidly from appeasement politics to war effort sacrifice. In South Africa the outbreak resulted in political upheaval, change of Government, and - Baragwanath Hospital.

In 1939 Britain, and the Empire, had large blacklogs in all services, including the provision of health care for military personnel.

By September 1940, with hostilities escalating, and with the need for hospital and convalescent facilities becoming urgent, the Secretary of State in London formally asked the South African Government if it would provide health care facilities for Imperial troops of Middle East Command. The British War Office suggested that 2 hospitals of 1'200 beds be built in South Africa, as well as a convalescent depot of 2'000 beds. After due consideration one of these hospitals was designated for Johannesburg. In November 1941 construction started on the ground bought from the Corner House mining group, at the 8th mile stone on the Potchefstroom road, - near the place where the old Wayside Inn had been situated.

The British Government ultimately paid 328'000 pounds for a hospital of 1'544 beds.

After experimenting with various names, it was finally agreed that this hospital would be "The Imperial Military Hospital, Baragwanath".

The situation internationally in 1941 and 1942 looked bleak for the Allies. There was thus real urgency to construct the hospital as quickly as possible. Within a remarkable 6 months the first patients could be admitted, in May 1942.

On 23 September 1942, Field Marshall Smuts officially opened the hospital. He used the opportunity to indicate the post war plan, which was that the Government would use the hospital for the Black population of the Witwatersrand. In the meantime Baragwanath was called on to deal with casualties of the war, mainly from the Middle East command. During the latter part of the war Baragwanath treated mostly Tuberculosis patients, not only from Middle East Command, but also from the Far East Command - mainly the Burma theatre.