Hamlin Hospital

Hammana, Lebanon

In 1907 Dr. Mary Pierson Eddy, a Presbyterian missionary eye doctor, became greatly distressed by the inhuman treatment that people with tuberculosis were receiving. She began to collect these outcasts and brought them to her seaside clinic in Jounieh. In 1908 the clinic was transferred to Hammana, a city in Mount Lebanon, to take advantage of the curative effects of the dry, clean and healthy environment of the mountains. Following Dr. Eddy's death, her sister and later Dr. Nehme Nucho took over to continue the excellent medical services the hospital was providing in the region.

In the early seventies, a need for a general hospital was foreseen. As a result, a new extension building was erected to act as a general hospital. Currently the hospital offers many services to its community including an emergency unit, laboratory, X-ray, pharmacy, endoscopy in addition to out- patient clinics. During the Lebanese civil war, many of Hamlin Hospital's services were compromised and interrupted. Although the damage was great, the site was preserved with little or no maintenance.

In 1985, and as a result of negotiations with the Netherlands Red Cross and the League of Red Cross societies, a center for making prostheses and ortheses was established at the hospital. The patients were both poliomyelitis cases and war victims. This service was of great value until the closure of the workshop in 1990 when most of its equipment were damaged or missed during the war.

Today, Hamlin hospital is passing through a rebuilding stage. Its tuberculosis and chest diseases departments need renovation as the number of TB patients is rising nationally, especially among the poor families. The home for the elderlies is at a better stage, providing an acceptable standard of life for those neglected people.

The nursing school was reorganized in 1980. It is now closed awaiting renovations.

Hamlin Hospital is affiliated with and operates under the close supervision of the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon. Mr. Bassem E. Maamari is the full time hospital administrator and Dr. Imad Petro Hajj is the medical director.

Hamlin Hospital is assisted by PC(USA) Extra Commitment Opportunity Fund (Acct. # 862373).