Nuestra Señora de las Angustias
Nuestra Señora de las Angustias (Our Lady of Afflictions) was the first known hospital in the Pensacola area, built in 1701 as part of the Presidio Santa María de Galve settlement under Governor Andrés de Arriola. It was operated by surgeon-friars of the Order of San Juan de Dios, including Fr. Joseph Antonio de Espinosa Ocampo and Fr. Joseph de Salazar.
In 1702 the hospital was expanded into an adjacent house purchased from one of the garrisoned soldiers, although by that time, a lack of medicine meant "the only cure possible was that of divine intervention." It was moved inside the nearby Fort San Carlos de Austria around 1708.
Other friars who served as surgeons at the hospital included Fr. Juan de Chavarria and Fr. Felipe de Orbalaes. Orbalaes was killed in a September 1, 1712 ambush by hostile Indians outside the fort.
The hospital was destroyed along with the fort by French forces in 1719.
References
- William S. Coker. "Pensacola's Medical History: The Colonial Era, 1559-1821." Florida Historical Quarterly, Volume 77, Number 2, Fall 1998.
