Amazing Medical Sites Around The World Quiz

Answer: Leprosy

This building is the National Leprosarium in Louisiana. It began as the Louisiana Leper Home in 1894 on the former site of a sugar plantation after New Orleans residents demanded the removal of leprosy patients from the city. By 1921, it was the Leprosarium and was the nation's primary facility for isolating and treating individuals with leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease.

R&D (Research and Development) that took place there greatly aided in finding a cure for the disease. It closed as a hospital in 1999 but a museum there now features over 4,000 square feet of exhibition space with artifacts, patient accounts, and information about the disease.

The site's centerpiece was the Indian Camp Plantation house, an 1859 mansion featuring a raised stucco-over-brick construction, a double gallery, and Italianate elements like elaborate brackets and dentils. Other, more modern buildings were arranged around two quadrangles and connected by roughly 2.5 miles (4 km) of two-story, screened, and covered walkways to let wheelchair-bound patients roam.

Answer: Isolation

It was built on May 17, 1607, on the edict of King Henry IV. The hospital was strategically built outside the city walls of Paris to quarantine people with the plague. It was named after King Louis IX (Saint Louis), who died of dysentery during a crusade in 1270.

The hospital was designed with isolation in mind. The entire site was fully walled to prevent contact with outsiders and personnel could only enter through a single guardhouse. The narrow, grated gates were intended to stop contagious patients from escaping and going home. Hospital conditions in this era were often unsanitary, with straw mattresses, stagnant air, shared beds, and rampant vermin (which did not help with the plague epidemic).

In the 19th century, the Hôpital Saint-Louis became a world-renowned center for dermatology and venereal diseases, a reputation it maintains today as a leading university hospital. The original buildings serve as offices while a modern hospital complex was built adjacent to it in the 1980s.

Answer: Immersion therapy

A modern, functioning hospital, known as the Mihintale Base Hospital, currently exists in the northcentral part of Sri Lanka (as of 2025). In the same area is the site called the Ancient Mihintale Hospital Complex. The hospital was built in the late 800's AD and was a monastic hospital, primarily for ailing monks, but also offered treatment for others.

It had 27 patient rooms around a courtroom and focused on air circulation. In the center of the courtyard was a Buddhist shrine. The outer court had areas for consulting, bathing, and medicine preparation/storage. A sarcophagus-like stone trough is found in the inner court, carved in the shape of a human. This was used for immersion therapy, where patients would lie in the trough while medicinal oils and herbs were poured over them. This was used to treat fevers, skin ailments, and arthritis.

It is believed the hospital started its decline in the early 1000s AD when the nearby capital of the area was deserted.

Answer: Bath

The RNHRD is also called the Bath Mineral Water Hospital and is in Bath, England. The hospital was established in 1738 as the Bath General Infirmary and was the first hospital in the country to admit patients from across the United Kingdom.

People came to the hospital to benefit from the mineral-rich thermal waters of Bath. The baths in the area were believed to have healing properties and had a history dating back to Roman times. Treatment was offered at the hospital for conditions including paralysis, rheumatism, and skin conditions.

The original building with its Georgian façade is a prominent feature of the city's landscape. In September 2019, the clinical services themselves moved to a new, modern facility, marking the end of the hospital's nearly 280-year tenure at its original site.

Answer: True

The hospital was established in 1247 AD as a priory for the Order of St. Mary of Bethlehem and began accepting patients with mental illness by the 14th century. The hospital relocated to a new building in Moorfields in 1676. Unfortunately, the new architecture did not help with the hideous conditions for patients.

The building itself was in poor repair, often damp and cold, with water running down the walls. Patients were often chained to their beds at night or to the walls of their cells. The cells themselves were small, dirty, cold, and full of rats. People could, for a small fee, come to the hospital (nicknamed "Bedlam") and mock the patients. The word "bedlam" came to define any chaotic situation.

The 19th century saw quite a bit of reform to the hospital's practices. In 1930, the hospital moved to a more spacious location on the Monks Orchard estate in Beckenham. Located on the grounds of the modern hospital, the Bethlem Museum of the Mind was established in 2015 to tell the hospital's complex history and challenge the prevailing ideas about various mental illnesses.

Answer: Smallpox

The Smallpox Memorial Hospital, now known as the Renwick Ruin, is a historic Gothic Revival-style structure. It was designed by James Renwick, Jr., who also was the architect for things like the Smithsonian Institution Building in Washington, D.C. and St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York. The hospital was built in 1856 in response to smallpox. During this time the disease was a major cause of death, and the city lacked adequate facilities for its victims.

It was a 100-bed hospital with charity wards as well as private rooms for the more wealthy clients. It had a castle-like appearance with pointed arch windows on the third floor. The hospital was also built with a system of ventilation flues in the walls to help reduce the spread of disease.

After a smallpox vaccine became more widespread, the hospital closed in the 1870s. It was later used as a nurses' training school. It fell into disrepair in the 1950s and is now designated as the only landmark ruin in New York City.

Answer: The Netherlands

The sanatorium was built between 1926-1931 to provide aftercare for tuberculosis patients, preparing them for reintegration into society. It showcases a Modernist architecture, built with a focus on sunlight, fresh air, and hygiene for patients.

At the time, people believed sunlight helped tuberculosis (TB) and used it as a heliotherapy treatment before antibiotics were discovered. Therefore, patients' rooms here had individual sun balconies and were arranged in a pattern to ensure unobstructed sunlight. The architects also incorporated a cooling system to counteract potential overheating from all the glass.

After the decline of the disease, the building fell into disrepair. However, a major restoration took place in 2001 and it became useful again. This time, however, it became an event center that offers tours of its architecure and unique medical history.

Answer: Artwork

The hospital was built in 1288 as a charitable institution for the poor and sick. Folco Portinari bought a group of houses and turned them into a hospital at the urging of his maid who later became a nurse there.

Over the centuries, the hospital became one of the most powerful and wealthy institutions in Florence and built a strong historical background. Leonardo da Vinci interned here between 1502 and 1508, where he performed anatomical dissections on cadavers to study the human body. It was one of the first to set up an obstetrics delivery room for the poor in 1773.

Through this long history, prominent Florentine artists decorated the hospital. These have included a fresco of the "Last Judgment" by Fra Bartolomeo, a terracotta lunette of the "Pietà" by Giovanni della Robbia and a sculpture of the "Madonna with Child" attributed to Michelozzo. People are encouraged to take guided tours to see these amazing pieces of art.

Answer: Immigrants

The Lazaretto was constructed starting in 1799 and finished in 1801. It was strategically located 10 miles (16 km) south of Philadelphia on the banks of the Delaware River. This was a strategic location because all incoming ships were required to stop here before continuing up the river to the city. This stop was for inspection of passengers and cargo to prevent the spread of the contagious disease known as yellow fever.

Sick passengers were quarantined in the Lazaretto hospital while their luggage was fumigated. The hospital maintained a high survival rate for patients. Experts credit this to the center's care which included rest, clean linens, good food, and compassionate nursing.

After closing as a quarantine station in the 1890s, the property became a recreation area known as "The Orchard". Narrowly escaping demolition, the building was restored and now houses the administrative offices for Tinicum Township and features exhibit rooms detailing its history.

Answer: Oldest public hospital in the US

Bellevue's origins trace back to a six-bed public infirmary in New York City on March 31, 1736. It served as a poorhouse and "pest house" where people with infectious diseases or no other options for care were sent. In 1794, it moved to its present location on the former "Belle Vue" farm, an estate two miles away from the main city, following a series of yellow fever epidemics. This also later gave the building its name.

Through the years, it grew into a major academic and public medical institution. It pioneered the country's first maternity ward, nursing school (based on Florence Nightingale's principles), and an ambulance service.

It is still a public hospital. It now specializes in a wide range of services, particularly in emergency medicine and trauma care, behavioral health, and as a regional perinatal center. Harking back to its early roots, Bellevue has a specific program and robust preparedness for high-consequence infectious diseases.