The medical system in Bucharest has undergone, over time, important transformations due to the involvement of personalities who have dedicated their lives to improving the health of the population. This is the case of the surgeon Victor Gomoiu, who, in 1927, had the courage to open a hospital in an area less loved by the people of that time: Bariera Vergului.
Construction of the “Saint Helena” Hospital, today “Dr. Victor Gomoiu” Clinical Hospital for Children, represented one of the most daring projects of the interwar period. Victor Gomoiu was harshly criticized for choosing to implement his charity work in a marginal area of the capital. The doctor disregarded the “tongues wagging” and completed his plan. His clear intention was to develop a hospital to help people on the outskirts of the city, who, because of the poor poverty in which they lived, had major health problems.
Gomoiu initially entrusted Gheorghe Simotta with the task of carrying out the plans for the new construction, but it seems that the project proposed by the famous architect was not to the doctor’s liking. Therefore, he himself sat to the drawing board and after days and nights of study he made the plans of the hospital he wanted.
Victor Gomoiu fought very hard to get the money needed for this work. The funds came, through public subscriptions, from several institutions, among them the Ministry of Health, CFR, the Ministry of Labor and the National Bank. In exchange for the financial support he has received, the doctor Victor Gomoiu has committed to treat all employees of these institutions free of charge for ten years.
Following the huge effort he made, the surgeon Victor Gomoiu managed to lay the foundations of the medical-social assistance complex at the Bariera Vergului. The medical services were provided free of charge within the ten specialized offices that it included. The complex also had two laboratories, a pharmacy and 60 beds for patients requiring hospitalization.
For that time, this project represented a huge step, given that the medical unit included specialties such as internal diseases, surgery, obstetrics-gynecology, pediatrics and dentistry.
Around this complex of medical-social assistance was developed “Saint Elena” Hospital, which made history in the interwar period due to the impressive number of patients who passed its doorway.
After 1945, the medical unit specializes in pediatrics. The communists decide to rename the hospital and this is how “August 23rd” Children’s Hospital appears. After 1990, the doctor Victor Gomoiu was given an act of justice, and the hospital he designed and built would bear his name.
There remains a hospital dedicated to children. In fact, here they have professed important names from the Romanian pediatrics, among them Prof. Valeriu Popescu, Prof. Dr. Dimitrie Dragomir, Prof. Dr. Constantin Arion.
Rebirth of “Dr. Victor Gomoiu” Clinical Hospital for Children
In recent years the hospital has been reborn, the medical unit being built from scratch. Moreover, a new center of excellence in pediatric oncology will be developed on the old site.
The decision was made to build a hospital from scratch because of the age of the building, age that no longer allowed a quality medical care.
“Dr. Victor Gomoiu” Clinical Hospital for Children works today in a modern, six-storey building. The total investments in this project amounted to 48 million euro.
The medical unit includes 220 beds and is structured as follows: three pediatric clinical sections, one clinical pediatric surgery section, one pediatric neurology section, one pediatric orthopedics section, one ATI section, one ENT section, one pediatric dermatology department, and a medical rehabilitation compartment.
“Dr. Victor Gomoiu” Clinical Hospital for Children, in the administration of the Bucharest City Hall, through the Administration of Hospitals and Medical Services Bucharest (ASSMB), is one of the major projects developed in this city in recent years.
Author: Ștefania Enache
Photo: Corina Gheorghe
