Joseph Harding Wing

The Joseph Harding Wing is one of the largest buildings within the St. Asha hospital complex, and houses the most often utilized services of St. Asha - its emergency department. The building with the most visitors, the Joseph Harding Wing is rich in its history in the service of providing top of the line medical care to the public of Louthia as a whole, and has seen its fair share of modern history, as well as bearing some of its scars.

Departments

As the primary reception for patients, the Joseph Harding Wing contains the busiest departments. Said departments are located on the first floor for ease of access, with the second and third floors being spaces for short-stay inpatients.

Emergency Ward

The emergency ward is located on the first floor of the Joseph Harding Wing, and encompasses half of the floor. The emergency ward is where primary reception and triage take place. The emergency ward contains its own diagnostics facilities and pathology facilities separate from the rest of the hospital campus, as well as a dedicated surgical ward for the acute surgical treatment of maladies which can benefit from surgery.
Emergency isolation units exist within the ward for those suspected of being afflicted with communicable diseases, and warded units exist for those suffering from diseases characterized by negative ethereal influence. Said units are separated from the rest of the emergency ward via airlock and decontamination barriers.
A separate behavioral unit is integrated within the emergency ward for those admitted with psychiatric symptoms.

Trauma Ward

The trauma ward comprises the other half of the first floor, and specializes in severe traumatic injuries that are beyond the emergency ward's capacity to treat. As one of the top-tier hospitals in all of Mithambe and Louthia, the trauma ward is capable of also dealing with polytrauma, as often experienced by combatants.

Burn Ward

The burn ward is on the second floor of the Joseph Harding Wing, and is a fully outfitted unit for those who have suffered extensive burns, either through mundane or through ethereal means. It is also called the 'Fire Pit' by members of staff who may have to pass throughout the ward for whatever purpose, given that the smell of burnt flesh lingers in the air, despite the rigorous cleaning performed by custodial staff.

Other Departments

The Joseph Harding Wing also houses a separate bay for the maintenance of some of the hospital's ambulance vehicles. This maintenance bay can house up to three ambulances, and is often as busy as the emergency department itself. In this way, there is always at least one vehicle in reserve should a crisis situation arise within the city.
In the basement of the Wing, there is an Etherspace rift support system that is always on standby, to receive patients via Etherspace translation. There is also a morgue to store the bodies of those who have expired throughout the hospital, and said bodies are ferried underground in utility corridors to avoid drawing attention.

Purpose / Function

The Joseph Harding Wing was constructed as a means of relocating emergent and critical care services away from the older, smaller structures that were being used within the Institute's quarter, and to increase the bed capacity for patients who often needed extensive levels of care.

Alterations

Significant alterations have been performed to this building, particularly during the time of the Mithambian Civil War.
In 1537, the first floor atrium was expanded to accommodate for a larger area for triage, as well as allowing space for outpatient treatments.
In 1804, shortly after the terrorist attack that destroyed a wide portion of the atrium and main lobby, the entire building was reinforced, and the first floor renovated with concrete reinforcement and siding.
Further renovations to the Joseph Harding building were performed throughout 1807-1815, in which modern utilities were installed, and the building itself was re-worked to modernize the outside structure, including the addition of larger windows, an expansive main atrium and emergency ward entrance, and the addition of the roof landing pad and support. The basement was also modernized, including the addition of utility corridors to the rest of the campus, and the expansion of the morgue.
In 1885, an Etherspace beacon and rift support equipment was permanently installed in the basement of the building.

Architecture

The Joseph Harding Wing follows the rest of the buildings throughout Mithambe in Jacobean architecture. The outside of the Wing is constructed from red bricks and tall concrete pillars, and the windows that admit light into the building are large and extend throughout the entire height of the building. The roof is flat with parapets for the occasional staff-member to take an outside break, with an exception for a landing pad that is on the building's west end, to accommodate for medical flights.

History

The Joseph Harding Wing was constructed under the supervision of Grandmaster Joseph Harding of the Order of St. Asha, and was dedicated to the expansion of the growing Order of St. Asha and its services to the greater public. The building was officially completed in 1485, and is the third oldest building in St. Asha's campus.
The Wing was temporarily reinforced during the hottest parts of the Louthian War in 1621 through 1633, with sandbag emplacements and temporary cement rubble being placed around the building to protect from artillery shrapnel. Although no fighting came close to St. Asha's Quarter, Sir Mitfield and Grandmaster Sain would take no chances, and had the campus protected by rotating patrols of soldiers from various species, as well as the physical reinforcement of the buildings and grounds.
In 1804, the first floor of the Joseph Harding Wing was bombed by insurgents belonging to the Church of the Great Design. The wing, which was already packed with patients from an earlier attack by insurgents, suffered significant casualties among patients and staff, and building itself suffered extensive damage. Patients were temporarily relocated to tents or other buildings across the hospital campus, and the scene of devastation was the final spark that drove King Rupert Mitfield to formally declare war on those who would threaten his family and his nation.
As part of the Rupert Accord in 1807, one of King Rupert Mitfield's plans was to amalgamate the various healthcare providers across the realm of Mithambe, and unify them under a common level of standard and care. St. Ashe's Institute was one of the first campuses to be amalgamated under the Accord, which enabled desperately needed upgrades to be performed on the hospital grounds and facilities, new trained staff to be brought in to handle the increase of long-term patients arising from the Mithambian Civil War, and new equipment to be acquired to handle the subsequent increase in access of services. King Rupert Mitfield also honored the Order of St. Asha for their role as independent field medics throughout the Civil War, and allowed concessions for them to return to the Institute as their ancestral home, as well as allowing one of their order to be a figurehead leader of the Institute's knightly order as a whole.
As part of this upgrade package, the Joseph Harding Building was refitted with modern power and utility conduits, as well as having a secondary power supply routed into it (and into the rest of the buildings on campus). Portions of the Atrium were reworked to admit more natural light and to make the building more appealing than the rectangle that it started as. A dedicated trauma ward was worked into the hospital and provided with necessary equipment to facilitate its operation, with experience gleaned from the heaviest days of fighting in the Mithambian Civil War.

Founding Date

1485

Alternative Names

South Wing, The Fire Pit, The Repair Shop

Type

Hospital

Parent Location

St. Asha's Institute of Health