History of St. Francis Referral Hospital
The old dispensary
- 1921 Arrival of the first Baldegg Sisters from Switzerland
- 1927 Opening of a dispensary
- 1931 Opening of a hospital with 30 beds
- 1937 Building of a labour ward
- 1951 The first missionary doctor starts his work in Ifakara
- 1953 The Austrian surgeon Dr. Karl Schöpf from Zams comes with his family to Tanganyika and becomes the new missionary doctor
- 1955 Building of the new St. Francis Hospital begun
- 1957 Opening of a research station of the Swiss Institute for Tropical Diseases
- 1960 Opening of the new St. Francis Hospital
- 1961 Tanganyika becomes independent with Julius Nyerere as first president; together with Zanzibar, the country is renamed Tanzania
- 1967 Opening of the Leprosy Hospital “Nazareti” designed by the Tyrolean architect Ing. Norbert Heltschl, financed by the Diocese of Innsbruck under Bishop Dr. Paulus Rusch. In the same year, President Nyerere delivers the “Arusha Declaration”
- 1969 Dr. Schöpf ends his work in Tanzania and returns to Zams. In the following years various medical specialists from Switzerland and Germany hold the position of Hospital Director
- 1976 The hospital becomes Designated District Hospital for the Districts of Kilombero and Ulanga. The Roman-Catholic Diocese of Mahenge remains its owner
- 1993 As first Tanzanian Dr. Patience L. Kibatala becomes both Director of the hospital and Head of the Surgical Department
- 1995 Cooperation with the hospital in Zams/Tyrol begins
- 2004 Foundation of the Association "Doctors for Ifakara”
- 2009 Dr. Kibatala leaves the hospital and Dr. Anthony Magoda becomes the new Medical Director
- 2010 The hospital is appointed as "Referral Hospital"
