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The first known ones were built in 431 BC, in Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka), in South Asia. Two centuries later, Emperor Asoka created special institutions in India to treat illnesses similar to today’s hospitals. In Europe, its introduction fell to the Romans, who, around 100 BC, erected places, called valetudinaria, to care for soldiers wounded in battle. But it was only from the fourth century on, with the growth of Christianity, that hospitals expanded. Commanded by priests and religious, the monasteries began to serve as a refuge for travelers and poor patients. These places had infirmitorium, where patients were treated, a pharmacy and a garden with medicinal plants. It was they who became the model for modern hospitals. In the Middle Ages, religious orders continued to lead the creation of hospitals – it is estimated that the Benedictines alone opened more than 2000.
In Brazil, the first was the Hospital of the Santa Casa de Misericórdia de Olinda, inaugurated in 1540 together with the Church of Nossa Senhora da Luz. It functioned until 1630, when the complex was sacked by the Dutch and later burned down.
The oldest in activity is the Santa Casa de Misericórdia de Santos, in São Paulo, built in 1543. In the beginning, improvisation was total. “As in the 16th century there were no doctors willing to come to Brazil, the Jesuits took care of all the care, working as doctors, pharmacists and nurses”, says neurosurgeon Henrique Seiji Ivamoto. Today, the hospital operates in another location.