The foundation
Having their own hospital was an urgent wish of Basel's Catholics. The first efforts of the Roman Catholic community to set up "inpatient nursing care" for their members date back to the 1850s. On 17 March 1910, an association was founded with the aim of establishing a hospital. The president of this association and thus the actual initiator of the Claraspital was Josef Anton Häfliger, owner of the St. Johannsapotheke and lecturer at the University of Basel. In addition to financing, the association's main concern was the search for building land and for a congregation that would build and take over the hospital. In 1924, the association acquired the current hospital site, the former Hirzbrunnengut. At around the same time, the future sponsor was found: the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy of the Holy Cross (Ingenbohl Convent), who were already established in Basel and working in the Marienhaus and in home nursing.
In January 1928, the time had come: St. Claraspital AG was founded; according to the minutes, the actual founding act lasted just a quarter of an hour - a sober, brief conclusion to the long history of its origins and at the same time the start of its successful existence. The hospital was opened on 6 February 1928, with 13 patients admitted on the first day. The basis of the Claraspital proved to be extremely stable. The annual reports speak for themselves: it is not only the nuns who have been a constant in the hospital's 95-year history, but also the board members, doctors and carers who have remained loyal to the Claraspital for decades.
The development
Since day one, people of every ideology and religion, every background and every insurance class have received careful, medical and humane treatment and care at the Claraspital. In 1928, the Claraspital was a city hospital that was available to its patients "from the cradle to the grave", but without ever neglecting basic care, it has developed into a highly specialised hospital and an indispensable part of the healthcare system in north-western Switzerland:
Today, the Claraspital runs a large tumour centre, the Clarunis university abdominal centre, a 24-hour emergency ward as well as the specialities of urology, pneumology/thoracic surgery, cardiology, general internal medicine, endocrinology with a nutrition centre, gynaecology and intensive care medicine. Its size, with 210 beds and 1,200 employees, is ideal for providing excellent, interdisciplinary yet personalised and attentive care and treatment.
Completely modernised infrastructure, well thought-out patient pathways
The construction projects realised over the past seven years have created premises that are consistently geared towards the needs of patients, their treatment and care and are state-of-the-art. The Claraspital combines tradition with modernity: the façade of the original hospital building was uncovered and the entrance pavilion with reception, the "Chiara" visitors' café, the chapel, the technical floor and the hospital kitchen were renovated.
The interior design of the new Hirzbrunnen building, which is connected to the main building, contains elements in the style of the classicist main building, while the outer shell is a modern interpretation of the brick/clinker often used in the Hirzbrunnen neighbourhood. The building houses a state-of-the-art operating wing, a ward, the tumour centre, the 24-hour emergency ward, nuclear medicine and physiotherapy. Zurzach Care operates a medical oncological rehabilitation ward on the third floor. The new day clinic is located in the immediate vicinity of the operating theatre wing, while the new intensive care unit and the new cardiology department with cardiac catheterisation laboratory are located on the park side. The urology, pneumology/thoracic surgery and radiology departments have been modernised and enlarged and now have more space. Clarunis was given new consultation rooms, and finally a new emergency access road was built for the emergency services and the surrounding area was landscaped again.
