THE PROCESS OF LAICIZACION OF THE HOSPITAL IN THE CAPITAL OF THE REINO DE GUATEMALA (XVI-XIX)

Abstract

The article traces the painful history of hospitals in the capital of the Kingdom of Guatemala, a story that leaves no doubt about the limitations of the policy of charitable assistance to poor patients in the early days of the colonial era. The work is centered on the point at which the Order of St John of God which had been the main actor in the health care activity, despite Bourbon legislation restricting its powers gradually is replaced by a board of charity associated more clearly the secular world to the fate of these centers will be improved. The text examines both important aspects of the functioning of hospitals, including Belen Hospital San Juan de Dios in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, it has certain elements afferent to the budget, the cost to the hospital patients and employees and emphasizes the relative neglect of the notable ones toward the hospital system that condemned him to be a mere prelude to death.