By Hanne Tuborg Sandell & Birger Sandell, Eskimologists
When the first colonists arrived in Ittoqqortoormiit and the surrounding settlements in 1925, there were no educated people in the health system. However there was a midwife, because it was very important to get viable progeny out of the small number of colonists.
In 1926, a Westgreenlandic colony inspector, Henrik Høegh, arrived in town. He had the advantage, that he had attended a 2-year course in health care at the hospital in Sundby ( Denmark) and therefore he was fit for distributing medicine from the box, which took care of the entire health system in the district. Henrik Høegh stayed as inspector for the next 20 years. In all that time, he was (together with the midwives) the only health authority, though it must be said a few doctors visited. During Professor Charcots expeditions in the 30s, a French doctor in his team, spent some time in the village curing injuries. Later, during the war, American doctors stopped-in from ice-breakers from time to time.
The first nurse supposed to over winter, arrived in 1947. At first she had to stay in the inspector’s house, but before the year was over, she had already established a hospital in an older expedition house, built by Lauge Koch in the western part of the colony.
In 1948 a hospital with a room for the nurse was established on the other side of the river, in a house built by Professor Charcot on the eastern side of the town. The house was useless as a hospital, particularly because of its location with no road, but until 1958 it was used as a hospital. In 1949 the colony had a terrible measles epidemic, and practically all the babies died.
The first over-wintering doctor arrived in the summer of 1957, and the first real hospital building was completed in 1958. It contained 4 sick rooms for all in all 10 patients, a consulting room, a lab, a pharmacy and an operating room. Upstairs there were little apartments for the doctor and the nurse, a maid’s room and a student’s room. The only thing that had been spared was electricity, so all light came from paraffin lamps. The hospital didn’t get electricity until the 1960s: first it came from its own generator, and later on from the town’s own little power station.
During Christmas 1972 the hospital was totally burnt out, and 3 persons died. The following year, the hospital was rebuilt at the same spot. Again, in 2002, another fire started at the hospital in connection with enlargement and renovation work: fortunately this damage was limited.
Today the hospital is run by 2 nurses and 1 doctor.
