This week, I started a one month course in tropical diseases here. (I snapped this photo walking by the original hospital entrance). The course itself is pretty intense. I'm in class all day, every day. But it's amazing. The material is great and the lecturers are the best in their fields. But what really has fascinated me is this place.
In 1873, Johns Hopkins (yes, it was one guy - his first name was his mother's maiden name) died and bequeathed $7 million to the city of Baltimore to start a hospital and a university. Hopkins was a devout Quaker whose faith influenced his philanthropy and a desire to provide medical care for the marginalized. He was also a staunch abolitionist whose family had freed their slaves when he was 12 years old. Hopkins vigorously supported Lincoln and the cause for emancipation. When he died, his financial gift to the city for the hospital was the largest single philanthropic gift in the history of the country up to that point.
Over the years, Hopkins (the hospital) has become a bit of a mecca for modern medicine. It was here that William Osler, "the Father of Modern Medicine," first organized a residency program. He was also the first to bring medical students to the patients' bedside for teaching. Dr. William Halsted, a surgeon and another of the founders with Osler, introduced the surgical glove here and championed aseptic surgical technique. In more recent times, the hospital was ranked as the number one hospital in America from 1991 to 2011. It is considered to be the founding institution of American medicine.
Isn't it interesting that all of it was started by a bequest from a man whose passionate faith motivated his giving? To think that American medicine, touted by some as the best in the world, and the medical education system has, at its roots, a man who worshiped the God of the Bible. He once said, "Like the man in the parable, I have had many talents given to me and I feel they are in trust." Freeing his slaves before it was cool, giving his money to healthcare for the poor, founding an orphanage. Here was a man who truly lived radically and as a result advanced the kingdom of God. And many are still benefiting from it to this day.