San Pau Hospital: A Place for the Poor
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Marilen Garcia, MS Student; Claudia Palarz, BSN Student; and Dhriti Patel, BSN Student
One of the biggest issues in healthcare today is having affordable and quality care for the population, especially for the lower socioeconomic class. The San Pau hospital was built to resolve this problem. During our tour of the San Pau Hospital, we had the chance to see the exquisite beauty of the hospital and how it used to run back in the days. Even though the hospital was built to serve the poor, it was decorated in such a grand way. Along with that, the innovations and precedent that the hospital created were outstanding. It had one of the first surgery buildings organized with a pre and post anesthesia unit. It also had a pharmacy, kitchen, and a church making it a well-organized hospital system.
Every aspect of the hospital’s design related back to the patient’s treatment. Tiles were used for the flooring and walls to increase sanitation and ventilation and windows for natural air and light to circulate. Plain tiles were not used. Instead, colorful tiles with floral patterns were scattered throughout the hospital that brightened each room. Additionally, no two rooms looked the same and each design was unique from one another. The emphasis of natural healing was not only limited to the interior design. The gardens outside incorporated aromatherapy by including lavender and other healing plants.
Patient treatment was also a priority for the hospital. Surgery faced major growth within the hospital where the first open heart surgery in Spain took place within the San Pau Hospital as well as the world’s first heart transplant in the late 20th century. The hospital consisted of three operating rooms with the largest one on the first floor and the two smaller rooms located on the second floor. During our visit, we also learned that anesthesiology originated from nursing since medical students focused mainly on the procedure and learning whereas nurses focused mainly on the patient. Because of this, doctors began training nurses which later led to having anesthesiology becoming incorporated into medicine instead of nursing.
We discovered that this hospital was built for the poorer communities and served as a place for sick individuals to comfortably die. With this, comfort of the patient was prioritized over treatment. However, because so much money was spent on the exquisite designs, funding ran out and the hospital failed to be completely built.