{"id":3620,"date":"2026-05-01T01:54:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T01:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drtomstours.com\/?p=3620"},"modified":"2026-03-10T20:48:44","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T20:48:44","slug":"belfasts-first-hospital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drtomstours.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/01\/belfasts-first-hospital\/","title":{"rendered":"Belfast&#8217;s First Hospital"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Founded in 1752 by a group of benevolent merchants and industrialists, the Belfast Charitable Society embarked on a mission to establish a Poor House and Infirmary, laying the groundwork for compassionate healthcare in the city. Serving as Belfast&#8217;s first hospital since its inception in 1774, the Infirmary provided vital medical care to the community, supported by a dispensary inaugurated in 1792.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Driven by the altruism of dedicated doctors, including the notable lineage of Dr. Purdons, the Poor House and Infirmary became pillars of support for those in need, even during the famine years of 1845-1848. In response to the crisis, the Poor House extended its services to accommodate all medical and surgical cases from other hospitals, illustrating a commitment to collective well-being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 1872, the Poor House expanded its facilities with additional wings, funded by the generosity of benefactor Edward Benn, furthering its mission to provide care for the vulnerable. While the physical structures may have faded, the spirit of compassion and solidarity embodied by the Poor House endures, a testament to Belfast&#8217;s rich charitable heritage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For a deeper exploration of Belfast&#8217;s philanthropic legacy, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/drtomstours.com\/index.php\/diseases-drs\/\">Dr. Tom&#8217;s Tours<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Founded in 1752 by a group of benevolent merchants and industrialists, the Belfast Charitable Society embarked on a mission to establish a Poor House and Infirmary, laying the groundwork for compassionate healthcare in the city. Serving as Belfast&#8217;s first hospital since its inception in 1774, the Infirmary provided vital medical care to the community, supported [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":992,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-34"],"blocksy_meta":[],"gutentor_comment":0,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/drtomstours.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/20210921_113311-scaled.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drtomstours.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drtomstours.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drtomstours.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drtomstours.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drtomstours.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3620"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/drtomstours.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3620\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drtomstours.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drtomstours.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drtomstours.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drtomstours.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}