Paarl Hospital: About Us

For a number of years, the hospital accommodated approximately 42 patients. The nurses’ home (accommodation) was later renovated to create additional wards for patients, which increased the number of beds to 54.

During and after the Second World War, it became apparent that the hospital was much too small to meet the needs of the developing town of Paarl. At the time, Dr AL de Jager, Medical Superintendent at the facility, initiated the building of a bigger and more modern hospital – construction commenced in 1951.  Mr PJ Olivier, Administrator of the Cape during this time, laid the cornerstone for the new facility on 21 May 1952. The new modern facility was successfully completed in 1954.  In December 1954, the first patients were admitted to the new building.

Since its inception in 1954, the hospital operated as a second class training school for medical and surgical nurses. In 1974 the facility’s training school was upgraded to a first-class training school and was affiliated with the prestigious Carinus Nursing College and later joined the Otto du Plessis Nursing College in Bellville.  Professional nursing training is managed and offered at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT).

The Obstetrics section of the Paarl Hospital was upgraded in 1995 and the Emergency Centre in 2000. 

The entire hospital was refurbished to accommodate 369 beds as part of the Hospital Revitalisation Programme initiated in May 2006, but current only 331 beds are commissioned.

Key developments:

• Paarl Hospital was successfully refurbished in 2010
• A new Psychiatric Unit was opened and occupied as from the 1^st of September 2016
• Paarl Hospital was accredited by the Office of Health Standards Compliance in 2016