Max Sandreczky
Max Sandreczky (1839-1899) was a German pediatric surgeon who settled in Jerusalem in 1868, where in 1872 he established and ran the first pediatric hospital in the wider region.[1] During the entire existence of the hospital, between 1872-1899, he remained its only doctor, his staff consisting of his wife and three of his daughters who worked as nurses, and a young Jewish pharmacist.[1]
Sandreczky had worked in the early 1860s in Munich as the assistant of another pioneering German pediatrician, Heinrich von Ranke. He developed an understanding of several aspects of medicine which set him a generation ahead of his time, such as the importance of psychological factors for the well-being of his child patients; the nature of leprosy; and the role of bacteria and fungi in causing infections.[1] Some of his most progressive methods were the use of occupational therapy for children, and allowing for mothers to live in the hospital during their children's stay there.[1]
Sandreczky's hospital was named "Marienstift Kinderhospital", or "Children's Hospital of the Marie Foundation", after the wife of Archduke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin who offered him financial support for a while.[1] The hospital was known for its humanistic, warm approach, and it served sick children from all religions: Muslim, Christian and Jewish.[2] That very approach meant that Sandreczky didn't attempt to proselytise the children in his care, a fact which made it close to impossible for him to obtain sustained financing from government and confessional institutions, as did all other hospitals of Jerusalem in his time.[1] At the end, he pinned his last hope on the 1898 visit of Kaiser Wilhelm II to Jerusalem, but instead of money he only received a medal.[1]
With failing health, Sandreczky killed himself on June 22, 1899, at the age of 60, haunted by his fears that he would become a burden to his family and not be able to continue helping sick children. Shortly after his death the hospital closed down.[1]