page_title: Katherine Stewart MacPhail
section_title: Anglo-Serbian Children's Hospital
hierarchical_section_title: Katherine Stewart MacPhail / Interwar period / Return to Serbia / Anglo-Serbian Children's Hospital
caption_attribution_description: English: Staff and patients in the surgical ward of the Anglo-Serbian Children's Hospital, Belgrade, Serbia, 1921
context_page_description: Katherine Stewart MacPhail OBE was a Scottish surgeon. During World War I, she served as Chief Medical Officer of two units of the Scottish Women's Hospitals for Foreign Service. She cared for the wounded in Serbia, France, and the Thessaloniki Front. In 1921, during her stay in Serbia, she founded the country's first children's hospital. While she is remembered as a national hero in Serbia, she was criticized by some for providing her expertise in Serbia rather than in her own country. Her honors include several medals, plaques, and a postage stamp.
context_section_description: As the work expanded, MacPhail realized that the existing capacities would soon be insufficient for an increasing number of patients, especially because the top of the pavilion made it unusable in the winter, so she began to think about expanding the hospital. An enlarged building in Kneza Milosa Street, near the Military Hospital, was left empty when British marines left Belgrade and MacPhail immediately started the action to get that house for her hospital. It was a large, bright, well-built and preserved building that had enough space to accommodate 50 beds, especially when MacPhail succeeded in replacing large military beds for children's beds. In addition, a small operating room for easy surgical cases was formed, while severe surgical cases were sent to the state hospital. A large department for outpatient patients was also established. This new hospital began operating in November 1919, though it officially opened in February 1921. It was no longer an improvised institution, but a real medical institution. It was officially recognized by the Government of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes as the first Children's Hospital in Serbia, called the Anglo-Serb Children's Hospital, abbreviated ASCH. It was the only children's hospital in what was now Yugoslavia. Shortly after the opening of this hospital, the Ministry of Health asked MacPhail to receive infants and newborns, so a special nursing department was also set up with treatment provided by the most experienced nurse. By 1921, MacPhail was hopeful to not only perfect this hospital, but to encourage the foundation of others and to train native nurses to work in them.
caption: Anglo-Serbian Children's Hospital surgical ward
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