Hillbrow Hospital, Hillbrow, Johannesburg

A familiar Hillbrow sign from the '70s

I would have walked from Braamfontein across to Hillbrow to see Mom in one of the buildings, on the site bounded by Hospital, Esselen, Klein and Smit streets, which formed the core of the old Johannesburg Hospital site.

Mom sketching a map, Klein Street between Smit and Esselen

Mom does not describe her environment but writes about her visits to the X-ray department as well as to radiology. 

Sketch from the notepad

I found this wonderful photo while trawling the net and I can almost picture her, petite and scared on her way in a wheelchair...

Visit to X-ray Dept at 9.20am

 She pays attention, takes in all the details, records her thoughts and shares then with Dad.

Radio therapy at 2.30pm

I have enjoyed doing some reading this morning into what has transpired in Hillbrow since these visits to the hospital 40 years ago. 

Background to Hillbrow Hospital:

The Past

The precinct contains one of the finest collections of historic buildings in Johannesburg. It includes buildings to the west of Hospital Street such as the South African Institute for Medical Research building, designed by Herbert Baker and Frank Fleming in 1913, said to be based on Christopher Wren’s designs in Greenwich, London. Close by is the old Wits Medical School designed by A and W Reid and Delbridge in 1920. These buildings represent the work of some of South Africa’s most renowned architects, including Gordon Leith, Herbert Baker and Wilhelm Pabst, attracting the attention of visitors from all over the world.

A Window on Health Care Through the Years

The value of the buildings lies not only in the historic style of their design but also in what they can teach us about the development of health care and technology that has made our present high-tech medicine possible. When the Johannesburg General Hospital was at its peak, it represented cutting-edge medical care and was in the same league as other well-known hospitals around the globe. The precinct has an historical association with countless medical students, doctors and nurses who learned their profession at this teaching hospital.

The same applies to the thousands of Johannesburg residents who received medical treatment there over a period of nearly 100 years.

(Source: http://www.wrhi.ac.za/Pages/HHP.aspx)

One of the earliest images showing Johannesburg Hospital building. Picture: Barnett Collection / Independent Newspapers Archives

Read more about the development of the Hillbrow Health Precinct.







Here is another interesting link to a blog worth looking at:
http://2summers.net/2011/07/06/saving-buildings-and-lives-in-hillbrow/