History of St Michael’s (Oleksandrivska) Clinical Hospital in Kyiv

Today, Pechersk in Kyiv is the city centre. But once upon a time, this place was the outskirts of the city, where a hospital was opened in 1875. Funds for its construction were raised for almost 10 years. In the beginning, the hospital had 3 doctors and 15 auxiliary staff. After a while, the Women’s Medical Institute was founded next to the hospital.

In the nineteenth century, the number of infectious diseases was growing in Kyiv. In 1844, the need to build a hospital both to treat patients and to train new specialists began to be discussed. After some time, the city authorities began to look for financial sources for the construction of the hospital. In 1874, the construction of the future hospital began. The construction site was the slope of the Klovske Plateau, which was located on the territory of the former Mulberry Garden. The hospital was named “Oleksandrivska” in honour of Tsar Alexander (since 1922 – Zhovtneva, and now – St. Michael’s Clinical Hospital). The construction was carried out at the expense of citizens and Kyiv merchants. The project was designed by architect Vladimir Nikolaev.

The hospital was opened on 9 December 1875. The annual budget of the hospital at that time was 15,217 rubles. The hospital was housed in two barracks with 65 beds. After its opening, the hospital provided inpatient, outpatient and (until 1902) emergency medical care.
In 1880, Oleksandrivska Hospital began to cooperate with the Medical Faculty of St Volodymyr’s University of Kyiv. In 1885, a building was constructed for the clinic of propaedeutics of internal and nervous diseases.

In 1891, the Children’s Clinical Department was opened, built at the expense of Demydova, the wife of the city governor at the time, and headed by Professor V.E. Chernov, the chairman of the Department of Children’s Diseases at Kyiv University. By 1895, the hospital had 190 regular beds and 63 reserve beds. In the same year, the first maternity hospital in the city was opened on the basis of the hospital. In 1901-1914, two infectious diseases departments (children’s and adult), surgical, urological and gynaecological departments were opened, and in 1937, a polyclinic department was opened.

Since 1973, the hospital has undergone a large number of repairs and reconstructions, and new departments have been opened, including neurology, therapeutic, cardiology, infectious diseases, medical diagnostics, and in 2000, neurosurgery and haemodialysis. Today, the hospital has 873 beds and 40 structural units.