Redwood Memorial Hospital

Redwood Memorial Hospital is a community hospital in Rhymney which has twenty-one General Practitioner beds, two of which are used to provide a respite service. The hospital also has a Minor Injury Department. The hospital was renamed in 1947 in honour of Dr R V Action Redwood who was surgeon there for 43 years.

History
The Rhymney Workmen’s Medical Aid Fund was formed in 1878, aiming to provide medical care and supplies and improve facilities for treatment. The fund was supported by contributions from workmen, each man donating one penny in the pound from his wages. An executive committee supervised the distribution of the funds. It was largely due to their efforts that the hospital was built, the first to be funded by colliery workers in the Rhymney Valley.

Opened in 1904, The Rhymney Cottage Hospital was founded to combat the high rates of mortality and injury in the area. Inadequate living conditions and serious industrial accidents, many fatal, were commonplace. The closure of several pits in the area during the 1920’s had a severe effect on the hospital’s finances. Its services were reduced and closure was threatened. Again the public were asaked for support, and their efforts, together with the assistance of such external bodies as the Miner’s Welfare Fund, the British Health Association and the Commissioners of Special Areas, kept the hospital open.