Ruttonjee Sanatorium: Life and Times

This monograph concerns the history of the Ruttonjee Sanatorium, a hospital in Hong Kong originally built in 1843 as the Seamen's Hospital which subsequently became the Royal Naval Hospital in 1873 until the Second World War. Following the war the hospital was refurbished by the Hong Kong Anti-Tuberculsosis Association under the Chairmanship of Mr J H Ruttonjee and served as a specialist centre for the treatment of tuberculosis from 1949 to 1991, having been renamed the Ruttonjee Sanatorium. The Columban Sisters, a missionary order, provided administrative, medical and nursing expertise for 40 years. In the field of chest diseases and tuberculosis, the Sisters contributed significantly to teaching and research and published more than 100 scientific papers, earning international recognition for their unique contribution. In Hong Kong more than 150,000 people have died from tuberculosis since the year 1900, however in recent years control of the disease has been achieved. In this monograph, Dr Michael Humphries traces the history and remarkable contribution of the Ruttonjee Sanatorium and the Hong Kong Government Chest Service to the treatment and control of tuberculosis, the lessons of which have influenced clinical management of tuberculosis worldwide.

Dr Michael Humphries is a respiratory physician who has lived in Hong Kong/China for 30 years and is engaged in full time clinical research. He has a special interest in the history of medicine in China and Hong Kong.