The old Alessandrini-Romualdi Sanatorium Hospital is located in Teramo (Piazza Italia). It was inaugurated on 14th July 1934. Its history though began in 1912, when Filippo Alessandrini with his will gave to the "Congregazione di Carità " one thousand five hundred lire (past Italian currency). On 2nd September 1919, his wife, Giuditta Romualdi, following the will of her husband, gave all of the family heritage to the "Congregazione di Carità " for the realization of a place to assist and cure the poor infirms affected from tuberculosis in the Province of Teramo. Subsequently, Pasquale Ventili and Enrico Bernardi-Petrini added their donation to the one of the spouse.12
The article about the inauguration
Filippo Alessandrini's will
Plaque to the donors
Inscription
On 26th June 1934 Professor Dario Maestrini, head consultant of the Civil Hospital of Teramo, became the first medical director of the Sanatorium Hospital.
In this Sanatorium the less fortunate people could find comfort and cures. Together with a very qualified team of doctors there were a group of nuns of the "Sacra Famiglia" that helped the patients.3
The doctors Guerino Prosperi (standing) and Stefano Di Tommaso (sitting) in the clinic 4
Doctor Prosperi while seeing young patients 5
It was chosen to build the Sanatorium in an area surrounded by a pine forest, so that the patients affected by tuberculosis could breath a healthy air, which was considered at the time essential to heal from that kind of disease. The building was situated on a hill, with views of the entire city. Each room had very big south-facing windows in order to capture the purifying action of the sunshine rays.6
The green area
The old windows
The Sanatorium was divided in four areas: a central one for the patients, one for general services (kitchen, laundry, cloakroom and a chapel), one for isolation and a last one for the mortuary.7
There were two wards, one for men on the first floor and one for women on the second floor. Men and women were not allowed together and even the outdoors areas were divided in two sections by a fence.8
The old stairs
The old doors
The chapel
In the first years of the 1950s, with the discovery of antibiotics, an improvement in life expectancy for people with tuberculosis was noticed. Less and less people with tuberculosis were being admitted in the Sanatorium, instead the number of patients with lung and respiratory illnesses started to increase. In 1982 the tuberculosis section was closed and only the Geriatric ward and the Infectious disease ward remained open.9
An old image of the building
Nowadays the building consists of a restored part, that includes a Hospice and an Infectious disease ward, and a part that hasn't been restored. The Hospice was inaugurated on 23rd July, 2013.
It is forbidden to visit the old part of the building because it is unstable, but visitors can see it from the outside. At the moment there aren't any progects about a different use plan for this section.
The old architecture
Restoration
The new entrance
The front
The new wards
- Main text and photos by Beatrice Cardelli moc.liamg|89ecirtaebilledrac#| and Ludovica Di Curzio ti.liamtoh|79cdodul#| (December 2017)
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Bibliography
- Ercole Arduini, "Il Sanatorio Ospedale Alessandrini-Romualdi", Il Solco, Organo della Federazione dei Fasci di Combattimento, 31 agosto 1930
- Gabriele Di Cesare, "L'Ospedale Sanatoriale di Teramo", Notizie dell'economia teramana XXXVI, 1983, pp. 65-68.
- Marcello Mazzoni, "Storia sociale e sanitaria della tubercolosi a Teramo", Notizie dalla Delfico, 2001, pp. 32-38.
- Renato Molinari, "L'inaugurazione dell'Ospedale Sanatoriale Alessandrini-Romualdi", Il Solco, Organo della Federazione dei Fasci di Combattimento, 21 luglio 1934