Erasto Gaertner Hospital

The Erasto Gaertner Hospital is a health institution in Curitiba, in the Brazilian state of Paraná. It specializes in the clinical and surgical treatment of patients with oncological diseases.^[1]

Erasto Gaertner Hospital
Geography
Location	Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil
Coordinates	25°27′12″S 49°14′20″W
Organisation
Type	Cancer Hospital
Services
Beds	153
History
Opened	11 June 1955; 70 years ago (1955-06-11)
Links
Website	http://erastogaertner.com.br

History

The Erasto Gaertner Hospital was created on the initiative of Dr. Erasto Gaertner, who, on 2 January 1952, donated a land of 62,500 square metres (673,000 sq ft) to the Paraná League for Combat of Cancer (Liga Paranaense de Combate ao Cancer - LPCC) for the construction of what today is the Erasto Gaertner Hospital. On 11 June 1955, the hospital's cornerstone was placed.^[2]

Before being officially inaugurated, patients with cancer were treated since 1970 when Paulo Pimentel, governor of Paraná State, donated a cobalt pump, that allowed 47 sessions of radiotherapy per day. The local community and volunteers gathered resources to finalize and effectively inaugurate the Erasto Gaertner Hospital on 8 December 1972.^[2]

In the beginning, the Erasto Gaertner offered basic clinical and surgical care, attending few patients in an operating room, with a radiotherapy device and the cobalt pump.^[2]

Nowadays, the hospital is considered the largest cancer treatment center in South Brazil.^[3]