History

The hospital has a unique history in having been started by the Catholic Church. Their legacy of caring nursing, service and an approach to healing that takes care of body, mind and spirit, is evident in the ethos of the hospital today and its preservation is part of the mission of the hospital.

It is interesting to note that the Wits University Donald Gordon Medical Centre has its origin with the first field hospital for the miners of the Witwatersrand goldfields more than a hundred years ago. The Sisters of the Holy Family established the first field hospital, as well as the building of what is now known as the Wits Donald Gordon Medical Centre, previously the Kenridge Hospital. The Kenridge Hospital officially opened on the 21st of March1970, by the Sisters of the Holy Family In 1998 the Kenridge Hospital was bought by the Catholic Foundation for the Roman Catholic Church, and in 2002 the Catholic Foundation agreed to sell the hospital to Wits University. The university was able to buy the hospital with a founding donation from the Donald Gordon Trust. The institution was then renamed the Wits University Donald Gordon Medical Centre in acknowledgement of Sir Donald Gordon.