On Gulf Road, next to the National Assembly building, stands a two-storey stone house with pointed arches. Its official name today is the Amricani Cultural Centre, but Kuwaitis still call it what it was called first: the American Hospital.
The first hospital in the country
The American Mission put the building up at the start of the twentieth century. Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah, which runs the site now, dates the construction to 1911 to 1913: the main building a hospital for men, and beside it a second building for treating women and for administration. A women’s hospital followed in 1930, and a men’s hospital in 1940.
Out of these wards came the first Kuwaiti to specialise in radiography, Haidar Al-Khalifa, trained by the mission’s medical staff. He went on to supervise the radiology department, and then to serve as supervising director at the new government hospital when it opened.
Why it closed
The mission closed its hospital in 1967. The reason was not failure: the state had opened its own hospitals, and the place no longer had a role to play. The building stayed standing, and after the Iraqi invasion it was put back into use as a museum telling the story of the country’s first hospital and the history of health care in it.
Visiting
Entry is free. The halls are open through the day to individuals and families, and the explanatory panels on the walls are enough for a self-guided visit with no escort. A guided tour, a group visit or a school programme has to be booked in advance.
The hours announced on Dar al-Athar’s account: the halls receive visitors daily from 10 in the morning to 7 in the evening, except on Friday morning, when the doors open at 2 in the afternoon. Note that the website itself does not list these hours, so rely on the account or call before you set out.
A weekly programme for children
Alongside the exhibits, the centre publishes a weekly schedule of activities. Recent weeks have carried story time, chess, group games and prizes for the summer reading challenge. The schedule changes every week and is published on Dar al-Athar’s account, so check it before going if the children are with you.
Useful details
Address: Gulf Road, next to the National Assembly building. Phone: 22400992. Dar al-Athar runs two other centres: the Yarmouk Cultural Centre on 65145981, and the Qibla Cultural Centre.
Photo: a dome in a museum of Islamic art. By Jorge Lascar, CC BY 2.0 via Flickr.
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