Groote Schuur Hospital

About Groote Schuur Hospital

Cape Town is the capital city of the Western Cape Province and has an astonishing variety of attractions, activities and resources. The Groote Schuur Hospital is just one of the assets to which this popular tourist hotspot is home, and has played a major role in the establishment of the South African medical faculty on the global platform.

Did you know? Groote Schuur Hospital, visible against the backdrop of Devil’s Peak, and, not only the site of the first heart transplant, but also one of the main teaching hospitals in South Africa.

This is a government-funded hospital that is also the main academic hospital of the University of Cape Town. It is very large, and is used extensively as a respected teaching hospital. It is set against the backdrop of Devil’s Peak, and is accessible and central, thanks to its being along the M3 motorway on section that is aptly known as Hospital Bend. The Hospital was established in 1938, and then underwent enormous renovations and extensions in 1984. Twelve years later, it was declared a Western Cape Provincial Heritage Site.

It was at Groote Schuur that the first successful human heart transplant in the world was performed. The patient was Louis Washkansky and the doctor was Christiaan Barnard, who studied at UCT. Today, it is still respected for its excellent anaesthesiology department, as well as its trauma unit and internal medicine department.

Every year, medical students, specialists and residents come to Groote Schuur Hospital to train and get important experience. There are hundreds of doctors and well over 1 000 nurses employed by the hospital, in addition to several hundred other health professionals. A vast proportion of research is conducted through Groote Schuur, and patients travel from afar to get medical treatment here.

The hospital is close to several other attractions, including Rhodes Memorial, the University of Cape Town, Mostert’s Mill, and the City Bowl.