Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

The Countess of Chester is the main NHS hospital for the Chester area with 625 beds. It was officially opened as such on 30th May, 1984, but the accident and emergency wards were open from 1983, and a hospital has existed on site since 1829. Initially it was a mental health unit, called the 'Lunatic Asylum Building'. The building's name continually changed during the 19th and early 20th centuries from Cheshire Lunatic Asylum, to Chester County Lunatic Asylum, County Mental Hospital, Upton Mental Hospital, Deva Hospital and finally West Cheshire Hospital.

As treatment for mental illness changed from imprisonment to medication and therapy, the hospital became less busy. Eventually, less than 5% of patients were forced to stay in hospital.

In 1983, a new A&E department and general hospital unit opened on the site, which was then renamed Countess of Chester, in honour of one the Princess of Wales's more obscure titles. The naming ceremony was performed by the Prince and Princess of Wales, Prince Charles and Princess Diana.

At the time, Chester had two other hospitals: Chester Royal Infirmary and Chester City Hospital. However, as the Countess grew, the other two hospitals became redundant, with the Royal Infirmary closing in 1993, and Chester City in 1994.

Today
The hospital is currently in the process of building other wings, including Cardiac care and an extended outpatient wing.

Being built on a very large brownfield site, the hospital is only 2 or 3 storeys high in most places, but covers a vast area. The most distinctive part of the hospital is the glass 'sky-bridge', which links the main hospital with the paediatric and pre-natal wings.

The hospital is generally considered to be of a high quality, and was one of the first Foundation Trusts. It has also consistently received the top 3-star rating in the national performance charts.

Several well-known Cestrians have been born in the hospital including Michael Owen and his children.

The Countess of Chester was also the first hospital in the UK to completely ban smoking for both workers and patients.