Santa Barbara Hospital Museum — CLOSED
The Santa Barbara Hospital Museum has permanently closed.
This business has closed.
With a sign proclaiming, "Hospital Established est. 1600," the Santa Barbara Hospital Museum sets the tone for a visit back to the era when willow bark was used for headaches and foxglove was offered as an emetic after consuming spoiled food (or poison, perhaps?).
This hospital museum is dedicated to the study of history, particularly the history of medicine and medical practices during when the City of St. Augustine was a Spanish Colony and military outpost.
The museum focuses on the typical ailments of the period, from tooth-ache to musket shot, and the men and women who did their best to alleviate pain and save the patient.
Along the way, medical practices from ancient Egypt (mortar and pestle) to George Washington's final illness (the technique may have killed him) are discussed and demonstrated.
Named Santa Barbara for the patron saint for artillerymen, this hospital museum invites willing participants to allow themselves to be "treated" as part of the tour and demonstration.
