10 - Slave hospitals

Summary

In the Fourth and Last Division, I make some observations on the food and clothing of Negroes; the sick houses where they are confined; and mention a few important medicines, for which succedaneums are not to be found in the islands, and which no plantation ought ever to be without.

James Grainger, M.D., 1764

The slave hospitals on sugar plantations played an important role in the health care system. In this chapter we look at such features of these hospitals as their siting, construction, interior arrangements, equipment, personnel, and the care and treatment of patients and prisoners. We look especially at the slave hospitals of Jamaica and British Guiana, and compare them with their counterparts in Cuba and the United States. Critical analysis reveals the strengths and weaknesses of slave hospitals.

Introduction

A hospital is a place that provides medical and/or surgical care and treatment for the sick and injured. Traditionally, hospitals have served as both medical schools for practitioners and resting places for patients under observation and treatment. In the Middle Ages hospitals were often constructed adjacent to monasteries, and members of religious orders devoted much of their time to nursing the sick. As Europe expanded overseas, new and often lethal disease environments were created as a result of war, migration, commerce, and natural disasters. Soldiers and sailors were the first to stimulate the building and staffing of hospitals in colonial territories. Military hospitals pioneered new medical knowledge and skill, as well as nursing and custodial procedures.