Joburg’s first children’s hospital combines with the Children’s Memorial Institute
BRAAMFONTEIN – Situated near the Constitutional Court in Braamfontein, the Children’s Memorial Institute, which was once called the Transvaal Memorial Hospital for Children, was the first hospital in Johannesburg that was dedicated to children.
The plans for the hospital came about in 1919, when four members of the Johannesburg branch of the National Council of Women discovered the need for a hospital that was dedicated solely to children. Two months later, it was declared that the first children’s hospital would be erected in Joburg.
As stated in the pages of Interfering Women – National Council of Women of South Africa 1909 – 1999, the building would be established as a “thanks offering for the termination of the War [1914 to 1918 World War]… and as a practical and lasting memorial for the honouring of those who gave their lives”.
A campaign was started by the National Council of Women (NCW) in order to raise funds for the building process. It is reported that the Johannesburg Municipality was the first to make a donation –eight acres of land in Milner Park, paired with a substantial monetary donation. Funds left over from the war were also donated by the South African Red Cross and the Gifts and Comforts Fund.
The Transvaal Memorial Hospital for Children (TMHC) was opened on 29 October 1923 by the Governor-General of the Union at the time, Prince Arthur of Connaught.
Professor Peter Cleaton-Jones, a chairman on the Human Research Ethics Committee at the Steve Biko Centre for Bioethics at the University of Witswaterstrand grew up in Hillbrow and was a medical student at the hospital in 1966 said, “Johannesburg had the first dedicated children’s hospital in SA, followed by Red Cross in Cape Town and now the third will be the Nelson Mandela Hospital for Children. This is a little-known fact.”
“I don’t remember much unfortunately but I recall that I stopped going when I was around eight. I do know that it was so convenient as it was almost on the bus route. We walked down the road to the hospital from the bus and I even recall a bus stop directly outside of the hospital,” long-time resident of the area, Sylvia Ehrlich said.
Now, the Children’s Memorial Institute is a modern addition to the site and is a collection of about 30 separate organisations, mostly non-government organisations, that provide a number of services for children with special needs.
The institute is situated on 13 Joubert Street, Braamfontein.
Details: www.facebook.com/ChildrensMemorialInstitute
