1524 - Hospital de la Purísima Concepción y Jesús Nazareno

The Americas’ oldest hospital is located in Mexico City. Situated nowadays on the 20 de
Noviembre Avenue in the city historic center of Mexico City, the hospital was built over
the place where the Tlatoani Moctezuma and the colonizer Hernan Cortes met for the
rst time.

This hospital was built as a charity by Cortes in order to help wounded soldiers during
the battle against the Mexica empire. Bartolome Olmedo was its rst director.

During that period of time 3 hospitals were built almost simultaneously, but it is believed
that the Hospital de Jesus was built rst. Records estimate that the hospital started
treating patients around 1524. It is not really clear if the hospital treated Spanish as well
as Indigenous people but it is known that doctors aimed to rescue and put into practice
the knowledge of ancient Mexica medics (therapeutical practices, plants and minerals).

During the pre-Hispanic times there were Tihuican or “hospitals" that cared for mexica
people, however, unknown diseases like smallpox and multiple war dead overwhelmed
them and they nally disappeared.

Jesus’ Hospital was founded as a secular institution that survived and functioned
through the Reform War and the many alienations of the 20th century. The hospital was
largely nanced by Cortes’ inheritance who stipulated in his will that several cultivated
elds be used for the institution. Initially his descendants administered the hospital.

Besides being America’s rst hospital it was also the rst hospital to perform an autopsy
on the continent as part of an anatomy class for the medical students from the Royal
and Ponti cal University of Mexico.

Osegueda, R. (2021, June 17). El Hospital de Jesús, El Primer Hospital de

América Que Está Construido Donde se conocieron Cortés y
Moctezuma. México Desconocido. Retrieved January 22, 2023, from
https://www.mexicodesconocido.com.mx/hospital-de-jesus.html
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