Do you know when was the first public hospital in B&H founded? It was not so long ago..
It all started with the Bosnian grand vizier Topal Serif Osman-Pasha, who is responsible for the establishment of two hospitals, the only ones in B&H, the Hospital for civil patients at Kovaci and the Military hospital in Magribija mahala in the neighborhood Marijin Dvor.
The first one had 40 beds and treated all the patients free of charge, and the second one with 32 beds treated, for starters, the Ottoman soldiers and their elders.
The hospital of Gazi Husrev-Bey’s waqf, known as Waqf hospital and Hastahana, is a hospital in Sarajevo built in the Halilbasica Street above the City Hall by the means of the Gazi Husrev-Bey’s waqf.
The then governor of Bosna, Topal Osman-Pasha, talked the mutevelli Hajji Asim-Bey in establishing the first hospital.
The waqf allocated 8.000 groschen for the purchase of land, and 30.000 grochen for the construction itself. The hospital was officially opened by Osman-Pasha on October 6th 1866. The same day when it was opened, the hospital received the first patients, because at that time great plague raged in Sarajevo.
The hospital had 38 beds. A year later, a section of the building for women was build, so then the hospital received both men and women and had a total of 40 beds, as well as the rooms for staff, doctors, pharmacy and sanitation.
The Gazi husrev-Bey’s waqf supported this hospital until 1879.
(Source: radiosarajevo.ba)
