The Great Ormond Street Hospital was a hospital designed specifically for sick kids which opened on February 14, 1852. During the Victorian Era, it was known as "The Hospital for Sick Children." Dr. Charles West founded it when he learned about the high rates of infant mortality during this time period. He wanted to help sick kids be able to heal and live longer. This hospital was the first hospital in the UK dedicated to the treatment of children. When it first opened, it only had 10 beds and two physicians. Supporters of this hospital included Queen Victoria and Charles Dickens. Today, it is one of the world's leading children’s hospitals. 

Today, many kids have been treated at this hospital and have been able to live a longer life. The array of skilled doctors and the evolution of medicine and treatments designed specifically for children that this hospital holds is what has helped kids heal from sicknesses throughout all the years. Even when the hospital first opened in 1852, the goal was to help heal sick children so with that in mind they were able to just focus on them and use their research to heal them. This hospital relates to our reading of North and South and the character Bessy. Bessy was a young woman who was really sick but had no way to be treated. She was dying and if she were able to go to this hospital, she might have been able to be saved because of the focus the hospital had on young adults and children.

North and South isn’t the only connection to this hospital we have studied in our class. This hospital also relates to The Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole because throughout this text, Mrs. Seacole is treating those with cholera, and she ends up treating kids too. If there was a hospital specifically for children, Mrs. Seacole could have sent those she was taking care of there and it would have been a safer way to stop the spread of cholera. The Great Ormond Street Hospital is something that is still open today and still continues to provide the best care to children.

Works Cited

British Library. https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/the-hospital-for-sick-children-great-ormond-street---her-majestys-presents-from-the-penny-illustrated-newspaper

Great Ormond Street Hospital. https://www.gosh.org/about-us/our-history