Object description

Hospital San Juan de Dios in Bogotá housed the National Institute of Immunology where important research on vaccines, notably the first synthetic vaccine against malaria, was conducted, The Instituto Meterno-infantil, Hospital La Hortúa and the Santa Clara Clinic currently. It is one of the oldest serving hospitals in Latin America. It was founded in 1723 in times of the colony, yet its operation dates back the 1564 and was called Hospital de San Pedro and was established with the properties donated by Bishop Juan de los Barrios. It was later called Hospital de Jesús, José y María and finally Hospital San Juan de Dios. It initially consisted of three buildings of republican architectural style. The main building was modeled after the Pasteur Institute in France. and was finished in 1921. Later, a 1960 style high-rise building was constructed to house the hospital, and the original buildings were left abandoned.