This little hospital, now abandoned, is called "Ex Ospedaletto di Borgo Hermada " and it is located in the main square of Borgo Hermada (Piazza XXIV Maggio), in the municipality of Terracina. This area once was completely marshy. In 1907 the society named "Consorzio della Bonifica Pontina" decided to start draining it, sending lots of workmen there. This led to a complete industrial and agricultural transformation.
Between 1925 and 1927 the "Società Bonifiche Pontine" built up this huge building and few other ones. They were used for rice manufacture and production and they took the name "Agenzia Macchia di Piano". This was the main construction and it immediately became the so-called "pileria", which is the place for husking rice. This building also was peculiar for its position. As a matter of fact it was located in the best place to reach near roads or rivers. However, only few years later the "Pileria di Macchia di Piano" went bankrupt. Its main problem was malaria, brought by mosquitos living in the marshes. This disease had killed almost all the men who worked in the rice factory.
There already was a small hospital near there, called "Posto Distaccato di Macchia di Piano", which was under the control of the "Stazione Sanitaria di Colonia Elena", located near San Felice Circeo. Everything had started in 1921, when the "Istituto Nazionale per il Risanamento Antimalarico della Regione Pontina" decided to improve its health services, fighting against malaria. In 1932 the Italian Red Cross took control over the antimalarian activities in the "Agro Pontino". They trasfered the "Posto Distaccato" in the biggest building available in Macchia di Piano. Since then the building once used for rice production, became an hospital with 70 beds.
In the health centre there were two doctors, some nurses and some "militi profilassatori" ("soldiers" dedicated to anti-malarial prophylaxis). There also was an attendant who had to drive a car or a trap. It also worked as ambulatory and provided nursing assistance, so that it could guarantee treatment to the entire population of the area (not only medical assistance in case of malaria). In 1935, with the foundation of Borgo Hermada, the hospital was able to host between 170 and 200 people. In 1937 it became the "Condotta Medica ed Ostetrica". This hospital will last until 1971, when the government decided to suppress it due to politics of costs reduction. Today it is abandoned, but restauration and recovery of the building has already been planned.
- Photos by Chiara Minotti ti.orebil|59ittonimaraihc#| (December 2013)
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Bibliography
- Venceslao Grossi, Maria-Iride Pasquali, Rosario Malizia, Il Borgo Hermada di Terracina: un modello urbano ed urbanistico-territoriale da recuperare e valorizzare, Comune di Terracina, Terracina 2007, pp.325