BNH Hospital
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BNH Hospital, formerly the Bangkok Nursing Home, is a hospital located in Bangkok, Thailand.[1]
History
Origins
In the latter years of the 19th century, health care in Bangkok was rudimentary and based on traditional Chinese and Thai medicine. However, Bangkok was growing as a base for British and other foreign companies and an increasing numbers of expatriate employees who demanded familiar western-type health care. Western-style clinics and hospitals were unknown and doctors trained in contemporary western medicine were exceptional by their absence.
On 20 August 1897, Bangkok's British community met at the
The king stipulated that the nursing home should be a non-profit organisation and provided an annual grant of 960
In 1898, two British
Its first home was in temporary rented accommodation near its present location. In the first few years, the hospital faced financial difficulties that occasionally prevented it from paying its employees.
In 1899 the Siamese economy faced a crisis of confidence resulting in an economic slump, making the hospital's precarious financial situation more insecure. But in the year between its opening and the financial crisis the Bangkok Nursing Home had proved its value to the expatriate community, it was clear that it had become a resource that was too valuable to lose.
However the haemorrhaging of funds was not easily stemmed, so in April 1901 another meeting was held at the Court House of the British Legation. The original founding group was wound up and a new association established in September of that year, under the wing of a certain Mr Halliday who took over the assets of 2000 baht. Mr Halliday also had the responsibility of paying the nurses' salaries.
Later in 1901 the Bangkok Nursing Home Association raised a loan of 50,000 baht and purchased a plot of land in Convent Road from the Crown Property Office. Just twelve months later a new hospital, built at a cost of 31,762 baht was opened.
Teresa Lightwood contributed to the
Development
With an average load of only 50 patients each year between 1902 and 1912 it cannot be said that the nursing staff were overworked. But from this small base the hospital's fortune and revenues grew steadily to such a point that in 1912 a new wing was built. The new building was funded partly by public subscription and by a 500 baht donation from Siam's Anglophile King Vajiravudh. The King Chulalongkorn Wing housed an operating theatre and a maternity ward and was opened by King Vajiravudh on 23 July 1912.
Just four years later further expansion was necessary and an 8,000
It appears that money was still tight and the required funds were not readily available. The governing Committee examined a number of funding methods including public subscriptions and a lottery; a combination of a lottery and public subscriptions were considered the best means of raising funds.
The ambassadors of The
The lottery raised 89,354 baht and public subscriptions 40,000 baht allowing the Nursing Home to buy land for its new building which opened thirty years after the founding of the original hospital.
In the late 1980s early 90s the BNH was again stretched to its limit and in need of expansion. With its historical association with the Thai Royal Family, the management committee approached the Crown Property Bureau to become a partner in the building of a new international standard hospital.
And on the 14 February 1996 the new Bangkok Nursing Home was opened and a few years later it re-branded itself as the BNH Hospital.
Present status
A measure of its success is, that in its 107th year it is initiating another upgrading of its services and facilities. George Grenville and the founding fathers would be proud that the little
Because of its roots in the British community and more importantly as it was established as a
References
- ^ "BNH Hospital". CanCham Thailand. Retrieved 15 February 2024.