Description
In the wake of World War II, there was a nearly half-century long period of Soviet occupation in Latvia (1945-1990). There were fundamental changes to the country’s health care system so as to adapt it to the Soviet system of medicine. Hospitals were opened in every small town, particularly around 1951 and 1952. Maternity hospitals were opened in larger cities, including Daugavpils, Jelgava and Liepaja.. The purpose and innovation of this research project is to examine health care in Soviet Latvia. So far it has not been studied much because not enough time had passed since the occupation. Soviet-era documents are stored not just in Riga, but also in zonal state archives. If these aspects of the history of medicine are not systematised, then soon we will not remember that maternity hospitals did not only exist in the capital city.. The Daugavpils Maternity Hospital was open from 1951 until 1988, and it was in a building that was formerly run by the Latvian Red Cross. After the restoration of Latvia’s independence, there was another round of reorganisation in the health care system, and maternity hospitals outside of Rīga were shut down in the sense that they were added to other hospitals as maternity wards. Interestingly, a plaque was put up on the wall of the old Daugavpils maternity hospital in 2022 in honour of Dr Elina Rone (1920-2011), who spent more than 30 years working in Daugavpils and was the director of the maternity hospital from 1963 until 1973. Dr Rone received the highest award in the Soviet Union, the Order of Lenin, for her enormous investment in maternity care in Daugavpils.. Today in Latvia maternity wards are only found at the largest regional hospitals. The only dedicated maternity hospital is in Riga, and it was established in 1947.| Period | 30 Mar 2023 |
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| Event title | RSU Research Week 2023: Research Week 2023 Rīga Stradiņš University |
| Event type | Conference |
| Organiser | Riga Stradins University |
| Location | Riga, LatviaShow on map |
| Degree of Recognition | International |
Keywords
- History of medicine