The hospital was established in 1865, before the Liberation of Bulgaria from Ottoman rule, as a waqf treatment center under the personal orders of Midhat Pasa.^[2] Its first location was on the grounds of the local imaret, and its staff at the time consisted only of a foreign military doctor and two servants. He died in 1869, and was replaced by Dr. Robert Geiser, a Swiss national who was in charge of the hospital until 1877.^[2]

During the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, numerous Russian surgeons were active in the area during the Siege of Plevna. Nikolay Pirogov was among them, and Bulgarian physician Georgi Stranski, a close friend of revolutionary Hristo Botev, was also present. Shortly after the war—in 1879—Stranski became the hospital's first manager, albeit only for a year. The hospital was enlarged and moved to its current location in 1896.^[2]

Its departments provide care in gynecology, a full range of internal medicine treatment, surgery, orthopedics, urology, otorhinolaryngology, ophthalmology, neurology, pediatrics, dermatology, infectious diseases and psychiatry.^[1] The hospital also provides all major diagnostic procedures, emergency care and rehabilitation. Its staff consists of 430 MDs, including students and seasoned specialists, and 860 assorted specialist staff.^[1]

Robotics edit

The hospital is known for its robot-assisted surgery using the Da Vinci Surgical System. It is one of only three hospitals in Bulgaria operating the system, the first one to implement it in the country,^[3] and the only one with two Da Vinci systems.^[4] The robots are used for gynecological, urological and gastrointestinal surgery. Four surgical teams perform up to two robotic surgeries daily.^[3]

There is also a social robot that helps patients communicate with doctors when the latter are not physically present using online conference calls.^[5]

• Medical University Pleven