Address Bogotá, Bogota, Colombia | Phone +57 311 5768934 | |
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Hospital San Juan de Dios in Bogotá houses the National Institute of Immunology (Instituto Nacional de Inmunología) where important work on vaccines for malaria is carried out. This is one of the oldest serving hospitals in Latin America. It was founded in 1723. It initially consisted of three buildings of republican architectural style. The main building was modeled after the Pasteur Institute in France. A more modern high-rise building was constructed in the 1960s to house the hospital, and the original buildings were left unrepaired. Dr. Manuel Elkin Patarroyo housed his lab (Instituto Colombiano de Immunología) in the old buildings, remodeling them to their initial architectural beauty. Patarroyo's lab was one of the leading institutes in the world working on a vaccine for malaria.
The hospital remained one of the main academic medical centers until 1999 and was the main hospital for Colombia's state medical school (Universidad Nacional). The hospital was owned by a foundation, and after the restructuring of the medical system in Colombia to a universal private insurance capitated system, the hospital became financially insolvent because it stopped receiving direct state support. The bankruptcy of the hospital led to expropriation of its assets by lenders. All of the equipment of Patarroyo's lab was repossessed and the lab closed. Currently the hospital remains closed.