Bikur Cholim Hospital

Bikur Cholim Hospital
Bikur Holim Hospital in downtown Jerusalem
Geography
Location	Jerusalem, Israel
Organisation
Hospital type	General hospital
Affiliated university	Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Network	Shaare Zedek Medical Center
Services
Emergency department	yes
Beds	200
History
Founded	1826
Links
Lists	Hospitals in Israel

Bikur Cholim Hospital (Hebrew: בית החולים ביקור חולים‎) is a 200-bed general hospital in Jerusalem, Israel established in 1826. It is the oldest hospital in the country.

Bikur Cholim is known for its obstetrics and cardiac departments. The hospital also operates a modern neonatal intensive care unit, a pediatrics department, and bariatric and plastic surgery units. Bikur Holim treats some 60,000 patients annually. With 700 administrators, doctors, nurses, technicians and cleaners, it is one of Jerusalem's largest downtown employers. One-third of the doctors are Israeli Arabs, many of whom choose Bikur Holim for their residencies.

As of December 2012 the hospital has been taken over by Shaare Zedek Medical Center and will continue to function as a branch of Shaare Zedek.

Bikur Cholim first opened in a residential building in the Old City in 1826. In 1843, the hospital had only three rooms for patients. In 1854, a building was purchased which soon grew overcrowded. In 1864, another complex of buildings was acquired incorporating treatment rooms, a pharmacy, a hospice for the terminally ill and administrative offices. The Ashkenazi Perushim Hospital, as it was known, became the favorite charity of the British Jewish philanthropist Moses Montefiore, who described the facility in his diary in 1875. The general ward consisted of two rooms, each with eight beds. One room was reserved for men, and the other for women. In 1893, the hospital cared for 781 patients and treated 12,347 people in its out-patient clinics.

By 1907, hospitalizations exceeded 1,000 per annum. A decision was reached to build a new hospital outside the walls of the Old City. The cornerstone of the new building was laid in 1912, but construction work was delayed by the outbreak of World War I.

The building on Chancellor Avenue (now Strauss Street), just off Jaffa Road, was completed in 1925 and opened its doors to all residents of Jerusalem, Jews and non-Jews. The hospital in the Old City continued to treat the chronically ill until 1947.