The hospital had its origins in the Govan Combination Poorhouse, which was located in old cavalry barracks on Eglinton Street in 1852. A new 240-bed hospital and 180-patient
lunatic asylum were designed by James Thomson and completed in 1872. A major extension involving 700 more beds was completed in 1905. While working for the hospital in the 1970s,
Sheila Reith conceived the
insulin pen, and developed it there with two colleagues. It was introduced for general use in 1983. The Langlands Building, which provides care for the elderly, was procured under a
private finance initiative contract in 1999, built by
Carillion and opened in 2001. The laboratory, established to process results from hospitals across Scotland, cost £90 million and opened in 2012. All its services were transferred to the newly completed
Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in 2015. ==References==