Situated in the Second People's Hospital of Lanzhou City, an exhibition hall named "The Former Site of Borden Hospital" tells the story of the early days since its establishment. It was constructed by the missionaries of China Inland Mission (CIM) founded by Hudson Taylor, offering shelter for lepers.
The hospital was named to commemorate Mr. William Borden, a missionary of CIM, who desired to preach the Gospel in the northwestern China but died of meningitis at the age of 25. Before his death, he donated a large sum of money to CIM then and the mission established the hospital in Lanzhou as a way to realize his dream.
Dr. George Edwin King, a medical missionary, was in charge of the hospital construction and the first president. The construction started in 1914 and was completed in April 1918.
It had a clinic, an operating room, a laboratory and a pharmacy , offering 80 beds for men and 40 for women. Besides, it provided a special ward for Muslims. A leprosarium was opened in 1926. For its outstanding treatment, the provincial government permitted Dr. King to build a leprosy village in a valley which was 20 kilometers away from Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture.
There are also some photos of patients with leprosy in the hall. A short movie "The Flower of Tibet" shot by CIM shares a story that a mother and her daughter at two or three who were diagnosed with leprosy, living in Qinghai, were abandoned by the husband and relatives and they came to the hospital seven or eight years later. They both accept Jesus. Finally being healed, the daughter worked in the hospital, who was married and had three children.
According to the official website of the hospital, "Borden Hospital" was handed over to the local authority in 1951 and was renamed as its current name in 1978.
Translated By: Karen Luo
