Leading European children’s hospital marks 150 years

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The baby's ward at the Children's Hospital in Zurich in 1935. (Creative commons / Baugeschichtliches Archiv) Creative commons / Baugeschichtliches Archiv

Eleonore Cramer (1844-1866), patron of the Children's Hospital. (Archiv Kinderspital) Archiv Kinderspital

A children's ward on the first floor of the hospital. The date of the photo is unknown. (Creative commons / Baugeschichtliches Archiv) Creative commons / Baugeschichtliches Archiv (ETH)

The hospital's laundry room in 1935. (Creative commons / Baugeschichtliches Archiv) Creative commons / Baugeschichtliches Archiv

Under the care of the nurses, young patients convalesce in fine weather conditions on the terrace of the hospital's fourth floor in 1935. (Creative commons/Baugeschichtliches Archiv) Creative commons/Baugeschichtliches Archiv

Not the most favoured of rooms by children: The dentist's chair at the 'Poliklinik' - part of the Zurich Children's Hospital, in 1939. (Creative commons / Baugeschichtliches Archiv) Creative commons / Baugeschichtliches Archiv

The paediatric ward on the first floor of the main building in 1906. (Archiv Kinderspital) Archiv Kinderspital

The hospital's pathology lab in 1935. (Creative commons / Baugeschichtliches Archiv) Creative commons / Baugeschichtliches Archiv

A staff nurse receives new patients. Parents and children wait to be seen by the doctor. (Archiv Kinderspital) Archiv Kinderspital

An auditorium in the extension building of the hospital. (Creative commons / Baugeschichtliches Archiv) Creative commons / Baugeschichtliches Archiv

The Children's Hospital in Zurich, 1920. (Archiv Kinderspital) Archiv Kinderspital

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The University Children’s Hospital in Zurich is the largest of its kind in Switzerland. It opened 150 years ago, when doctor and philanthropist Conrad Cramer set up a foundation in memory of his wife, Eleonore. Today the hospital is one of the leading centres for youth and paediatric medicine in Europe.

The Eleonore FoundationExternal link was established in 1868 when Cramer donated CHF50,000 (approximately $53,000.00) to the city of Zurich to build the hospital. Today it has approximately 2,300 employees who take care of 100,000 young patients each year from newborn babies to 18-year-olds.

The hospitalExternal link had a modest start on January 12, 1874. The daily flat rate was CHF1.50 for patients living within canton Zurich and CHF2 for patients living beyond the canton’s border. Even back then, these rates did not cover the actual costs of CHF3.27 of nursing per day. In the first year, 134 children were treated and 6,150 days of care were provided: that meant an average stay of 45.9 days per patient. Out-patient treatment was also provided from the very beginning, with 148 out-patients in the first year.

Since the establishment of the hospital, its intake has grown to the point of its existing infrastructure being unable to meet the demands of paediatric medicine. A new building will be added, which should provide enough space for the hospital’s future needs.

A doctor with a heart

Conrad Cramer (1831 – 1918)
Studied medicine and trained as a surgeon in Munich, Vienna and Paris.

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Beds when the hospital first opened in 1874.

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Resident doctor for the whole hospital. The accounts were kept by a single housekeeper who also took care of the nursing staff.