Ottoman period In 1861, Vartan arrived in Nazareth to begin work. He joined Johannes or
John Zeller, a missionary of the
Church Mission Society. Zeller was an Anglican priest, and helped Dr. Vartan carry out surgeries with chloroform anesthesia. This small dispensary was located on the east side of Nazareth. A small flow of clean water was available there, but rainwater was used more frequently. The hospital staff ran a boys’ Sunday school and soup kitchen, as well as an artists’ club, in addition to normal hospital operations. As a Christian mission, prayers were held every morning at 7am. Most nurses and staff were native to Ottoman Palestine, and had minimal English skills, which proved challenging to Vartan and his wife. Both patients and staff came from various religious denominations. Most were Christian, but Jews and Muslims worked for and were treated by the hospital, as well. An early survey of patients shows that in 1899, 5,747 Christians and 2,680 Muslims sought care in the hospital. In 1879, a plot of land overlooking Nazareth was purchased for the establishment of a bigger hospital. Before anything could be done, Vartan was tasked with getting permission, a
firman, from the Ottoman authorities to establish a dispensary. Frederick John Scrimgeour succeeded Vartan as the head doctor of the mission, along with two European nurses. The new hospital was almost complete, when World War I broke out through Europe and the Middle East, and British physicians were ordered to leave Palestine. The new hospital was requisitioned by the military, stripped, and used as stables.
British period The hospital was restored in 1919, and normal operations slowly resumed. In that year, the hospital was recognized by the British government’s mandate as a hospital for training nurses. In 1924, the hospital was officially inaugurated and, by 1935, it had electricity and a sanitary annex for
tuberculosis patients. The mission began extending services beyond elementary care. For example, by 1924, plans were adopted for infant welfare clinics in a nearby village. In 1933, an east wing was added to the hospital, which contained the "Abercrombie Ward". It soon took on the name, the "Hospital on the Hill". By this time, Scrimgeour had retired, and William D. Bathgate and Sister Mary Parkinson had taken charge of the hospital. This pressure resulted in the recruitment of more doctors. In addition to MacKay, Hester and Bernath joined the mission in May 1956. Bernath arrived at the mission in 1956, and was appointed as administrator of the hospital in 1969. He worked to continue updating the hospital, and oversaw the development of a new maternity clinic, kitchen, and most importantly, the recruitment of specialists to provide dialysis and physiotherapy. In 1984, a delegation from Edinburgh was sent to review the hospital's operations and establish a plan to accommodate the renewed demand for services. Fred Aitken was appointed as head the implementation of the plan, which aimed to increase the standards of the facilities, rather than the capacity of the hospital, and had an operating budget of 3.5 million pounds. Nazareth is now home to 250,000 people, and the hospital is equipped with 147 beds and over 500 staff. The hospital is now also home to biochemistry and hematology labs, as well as a blood bank. The hospital has various departments, including childbirth and gynecology, orthopedic surgery, general surgery, urology, cosmetic surgery, emergency, radiology, cardiology, preterm birth, anesthesia, and research. Although it remains Christian in principle, the hospital neither hires nor treats patients preferentially. == References ==