ELLESMERE PORT HOSPITAL

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ELLESMERE PORT HOSPITAL

<p>The records listed below were deposited in the Chester City Record Office on 29 December 1966 by Moston Hospital, Liverpool Road, Chester. For minutes of Ellesmere Port Hospital House Committee, 1962-65, see HB/18.</p>

English

For a short history of the hospital, see M. Brown, The History and Growth of Ellesmere Port Hospital, unpublished dissertation, Carlett Park College of Technology, 1979. A reference copy of the dissertation is held by Chester City Record Office.

Ellesmere Port Hospital originated in a military hospital founded by the Red Cross Society in 1914. Heathfield House on Chester Road was bought from the Mansfield family and used during the First World War to nurse wounded soldiers transferred from Fazakerley Hospital. The hospital was staffed by members of the Voluntary Aid Detachment, trained by a local lady, Mrs. Johnstone. At the end of the war, the hospital received a certificate from the War Office in recognition of its work and was closed down.

Heathfield House was subsequently purchased by Ellesmere Port and Whitby Urban District Council, with the help of Mr. Highfield Jones, owner of the Mersey Iron Works. A local committee was formed, which held its first meeting in May 1919, leading to the opening of Ellesmere Port Cottage Hospital later the same year. Contributions of more than £250 per month were received in order to keep the hospital open and the Ministry of Health Voluntary Hospital Commission granted £70 per annum to the House Committee.

In 1926, two new wards were added to the existing building and central heating was installed in 1928. The out patients department opened in 1939 and in 1940, a new operating theatre and casualty and X ray departments were opened. There were further alterations to the hospital in 1950 and in the early 1980s, major additions were constructed and the number of beds increased from 34 to 100.