Szpitalnictwo cywilne w województwie białostockim w II Rzeczypospolitej

After Poland regained its independence in 1918, Polish people started rebuilding civil hospital network. Bad health conditions of the society and spreading epidemics forced people to undertake the immediate actions. In Bialystok province in the twenties of the twentieth century there were 47 hospitals and among them 18 were epidemic. In following years there appeared the tendency of reducing the amount of hospital institutions. This situation was influenced by the Great Depression in the thirties of the twentieth century. Very often smaller hospitals were merged into one large institution which had several departments with specialized medical staff. The causes of such actions were medical reasons. In the interwar years, in the area of Bialystok province there were also two specialized institutions established. They used innovative ways of treating. It was the Hospital for Mentally and Nervously Ill in Choroszcz and the Public Institute for Nervously Exhausted in Świack.