Meyer Children Hospital of Florence

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Meyer Children Hospital of Florence (Italian: Ospedale Pediatrico Meyer) is a children's hospital located in Florence, Italy.

The hospital is an official member of the European Network of Health Promoting Hospitals of the W.H.O. and the personnel are involved in prevention and health promotion programs for the Regional and National Health Departments.

[edit] History

Founded in 1884 by the Marquis Giovanni Meyer in memory of his wife Anna, the Meyer Pediatric Hospital was one of the first Hospital institutions in Italy exclusively devoted to the problems of child health care from birth to adolescence. Nowadays the Hospital is considered an integral part of the city’s community life, so much so that is affectionately referred to as the "Little Hospital" (in Italian “l’ Ospedalino") The original structure faces onto Via Luca Giordano and it has subsequently been enlarged to house the numerous additional services which have opened over the years. The hospital’s fame reached a peak just after the Second World War when tubercular meningitis was treated successfully for the first time, under the guidance of Prof. Cesare Cocchi. In 1995 the Meyer Hospital with the Department of Pediatrics of the University of Florence became an Independent health institute of the National Health System, due to recognition of its role as a highly specialized pediatric institution. This honor has been conferred to very few pediatric Hospitals in Italy. Many of the Hospital’s services have been identified as specialized referral units for the Region of Tuscany.