St. Rodrigo's Care for the Injured and Infirm
St. Rodrigo's Care for the Injured and Infirm is a neighborhood hospital that sits mainly in a large, slightly rambling building in the northeast corner of the Ironfire Bramble. Some time after its construction, its original owners also acquired what would become an annex, an old office of the Bailymena Post in the central part of the district. The owners of St. Eligius' used the annex as a place to send their worst cases to die quietly.
These days, the main St. Rodrigo's building bustles with activity night and day. It sits on one of the few traversable roads in the district; wagons and carriages can access a bay intended for the delivery of emergency patients. There are wards for injury treatment and recovery; common diseases of Bailymena, mostly of the lungs and skin; and even a maternity ward for more difficult births, a cadre of midwives always in attendance. The wards are dormitory-style, beds separated by curtains when privacy is preferred. The few private rooms are offered to those who would endanger others or be endangered by others were they not more isolated.
The main building is surrounded by apothecaries and greenhouses, all geared to supply its pharmacies of operating theatres. Those that expect to do business with St. Rodrigo's must maintain a high standard of cleanliness, with regular inspections from hospital staff.
The annex was not purpose-built to serve the needs of the injured and infirm, so it is more difficult to navigate. It contains significantly more private spaces, rooms for one or two patients. The owners of St. Eligius' believed that keeping their patients separated would grant them more peace as they met their end -- or at least keep them from making trouble.
The transition from St. Eligius' to St. Rodrigo's was a quiet one. The signs changed the night after there was a rumored miracle in the annex, restoring some of the patients with the most dire prognoses. The fees -- previously steep -- declined for all patients, and disappeared for residents of the Ironfire Bramble. The reputation for care improved, and the whispers of miracles have never stopped -- even the annex isn't the death sentence it once was.
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