What period in time were the early hospitals founded ? Which segments of the society started to provide health care for the needed ?
^ Hall, Daniel (December 2008). "Altar and Table: A phenomenology of the surgeon-priest". Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine 81 (4). PMID PMC2605310. Retrieved 9 July 2013. "Although physicians were available in varying capacities in ancient Rome and Athens, the institution of a hospital dedicated to the care of the sick was a distinctly Christian innovation rooted in the monastic virtue and practice of hospitality. Arranged around the monastery were concentric rings of buildings in which the life and work of the monastic community was ordered. The outer ring of buildings served as a hostel in which travelers were received and boarded. The inner ring served as a place where the monastic community could care for the sick, the poor, and the infirm. Monks were frequently familiar with the medicine available at that time, growing medicinal plants on the monastery grounds and applying remedies as indicated. As such, many of the practicing physicians of the Middle Ages were also clergy." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hospital#cite_note-1 It is interesting how the so called intellectual crap on Christianity , and Christianity slows progress in the society but yet our health and well bean started in christian quarters
Actually, medicine is far older than Christianity, though most of the ancient civilizations didn't isolate the sick (unless in quarantine), but rather had the doctors visit patients in their homes, where family members (women) cared for them.
