The Saint-Louis hospital was one of the first to be founded by naval physicians in colonial service, for French and native soldiers and civil servants.
Alongside this population of metropolitan origin, the number of native populations increased as the empire expanded and their demographics rose. Established in 1822 as the first hospital in Black Africa, it is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Saint-Louis’s hospital, now several hundred years old, existed under the name of Hôpital Militaire in colonial times. First entrusted to naval physicians, then to the Colonial Medical Corps, it was transferred to Senegal in 1960, where French military personnel served for another thirty years. It is the reference center for southern Mauritania, the Matam, Saint-Louis and Louga regions.
- Military Hospital
It is indicated that it was in 1681 that the Ordonnance Royale, in this case article 6, allowed the creation of the Hôpital de Saint-Louis. In 1822, a huge building was erected on the west façade, on the site of a former military fort. In 1829, the staff consisted of one (1) chief physician, two (2)4th class medical surgeons, one (1)1st class health officer, and one (1)2nd class pharmacist. From 1865 to 1898, development work continued under Governor FAIDHERBE. In fact, it was from this point on that most of the construction work was carried out.
- The Colonial Hospital
These hospitals were run by the Colonial Health Service, assisted by various native staff, in particular auxiliary doctors and pharmacists.
- Administrative and financial
The 1890 regulations stipulate that the director of the colony’s health service is also the hospital’s head physician. The establishment is placed under the authority of the governor. Administrative and financial responsibilities fell to the colonial commissioner, successor to the naval commissioner.
From 1895 onwards, the operation of hospitals open to civilians and natives was modified: the head physician had a manager and full authority over the staff. Soon, this was no longer possible, and the hospital’s Chief Medical Officer was separated from the Director of Health.
The most original element is certainly the financing of these establishments. A meagre income (which goes to the Treasury) comes from individuals admitted at their own expense for outpatient or inpatient treatment. But the hospital is funded by the colony. There’s no question of balancing the budget. Ninety percent of patients are cared for by the public authorities: soldiers and civil servants, Europeans and natives, as well as the mass of people receiving free assistance. Like other public services and the health service as a whole, the hospital is a free service for the user.
- In human terms
It took a long time to “tame” the population. Cultural reticence, competition with traditional medicine, the fact that patients are separated from their families, etc., were all factors that had to be gradually overcome.
In the field of training, the colonial hospitals work closely with the Pasteur Institutes, where cutting-edge research is carried out.
- Saint-Louis Hospital from 1900 onwards
In 1903, the hospital became secular, and in 1927 it merged with the civil hospice (built in 1840 on the current site of the Lycée Ameth FALL) to become the Colonial Hospital of Saint-Louis.
The hospital had undergone several renovation programs. The first program was carried out between 1927 and 1934, while the second was financed by the European Development Fund to the tune of 4 169 750 000 F CFA.
In 1960, it became a regional hospital, a status it retained until 1998. Since then, 17 directors have succeeded one another at the head of the hospital.
The hospital has been named after the physician lieutenant colonel Mamadou DIOUF since August 29, 1983 (Arrêté n° 11 .311/MSPAS).