A Study On Social Services Of The Drum Tower Hospital (1892-1951)

In 1892, the Canadian missionary W. E. Macklin established the Drum Tower Hospital, which is the first western hospital in Nanjing and one of the earliest western medicine hospitals in China. In Chinese modern history, as the church hospital, the Drum Tower Hospital divided into the period of the Macklin Hospital, the Drum Tower Hospital of the University of Nanking, the period during Japanese occupation, the postwar period and earlier of the People’s Republic of China. More than half a century of history, the Drum Tower Hospital "provided services for the society as a kind of welfare agencies" with medical activities, played an important role in the fields of free medical care, wartime rescue and public health.The Macklin Hospital belonged to American Christ, and accepted grants of the American church. In this period, the hospital began its earliest charity and wartime rescue. The number of annual aid poor patients accounted for about 1/3 of hospital patients. During 1911 and 1913, when the city in danger of war threats, the hospital carried out important rescue work. In 1914, the Macklin Hospital was taken over by the University of Nanking, renamed the Drum Tower Hospital of the University of Nanking, administrated by the permanent Council consist of Methodist, South Presbyterian church, North Presbyterian Church and America Christ. After that,the hospital continued to carry out social services, and strengthened cooperation with all parties. In 1927, the hospital established the Social Service Department to carry out free medical care, public health, social investigation services from a more professional level. Let full-time staff to provide assistance to poor patients under the leadership of Miss Mossman from the Department of Sociology of Jinling College and Professor Smith from the Department of Sociology of the University of Nanking. During the war of resistance against Japan, before and after the Nanjing massacre, the Drum Tower Hospital played an important function of social services in wartime rescue, accepting refugees and city public health administrative affairs as the only one major hospital open to civilians. The witness and records of Many foreign medical staff later became important evidences of Japanese atrocities in Nanjing. At the beginning of 1939, the Social Service Department returned to work, actively helped (?)or patients and refugees even under the high pressure policy of the Japanese. They strengthened cooperation with social relief agency in Nanjing, expanded the scope and scale of services. Their work continued until 1941 December, when the Pacific War broke out. Between 1942 and 1945, the Drum Tower Hospital was occupied by the Japanese colleagues association, and renamed the Drum tower hospital of the Japanese colleagues association. the hospital was in recession under the control of the Japanese, and all the businesses were to meet the Japanese war of aggression against China. But the hospital also carried out relevant services under the publicity and comfort policy. After the Japanese surrender, rehabilitation work developed by the Drum Tower Hospital. The Social Service Department got great progress in this period, and the mechanism and system became more perfect. The social relief according to outpatients, inpatients, patient’s families, children and other different groups formed a more perfect service system, the Social Service Department continuously expand the scope of services, and increased service population significantly. At the same time,the hospital made important progress in the area of public health service. After the liberation of Nanjing, the Social Service Department of the Drum Tower Hospital serve more ordinary people under the leadership of the people’s government, In 1951 June, the people’s government took over the Drum Tower Hospital. The social services that carried out with the missionary work flags turned into services to ordinary people under the people’s government management.Although the earliest church hospitals entered China as "the gospel servant", but they had strong charitable nature. During modern Chinese history, with frequent natural calamities and man-made misfortunes, the church hospital played an important role in the social services. From 1892 to 1951,the social services carried out by the Drum Tower Hospital as a church hospital, made important contributions to Nanjing people’s life and health public fields, especially to many people at the bottom. The foundation of the Social Service Department, promote specialization of the medical social work, and its experience in medical social service also has important reference value for today.