Antwerp’s first “hospitale infirmorium” was founded at the start of the 13th century near the Cathedral of Our Lady, at that time a Roman construction. It was then transferred beyond the city ramparts to the Elzenveld grounds in 1238, owing to the shortage of space and the threat of infection it posed. In 1258 the community of lay brothers and sisters adopted the rule of Saint Augustine.

The institution fell again within the ramparts of Antwerp following successive extensions to the city. Nothing now remains of the original hospital farmstead. The oldest existing structure is the chapel nave, built around 1400, with its spacious choir, added between 1442 and 1460. Then came the oldest existing wards, the convent, the presbytery and the surrounding shops. In 1797 the religious institution was dissolved and its patrimony withdrawn. The hospice was placed under the management of the Board of Civil Charitable Institutions, the predecessor of the modern-day Public Social Welfare Centre.

In the Napoleonic period, after the universities were closed down, para-universities were established in several cities with the aim of training army doctors, rural physicians and pharmacists.

This “Ecole de médicine, de chirurgie et de pharmacie” was brought together under the roof of the St.- Elisabeth Hospital and continued to provide its services until 1835 (for medical training) and 1849 (for pharmacy). The institution stayed open for a further few years, offering refresher courses and lectures in the sciences.

Although much has been constructed and reconstructed over the centuries, we can distinguish three major building periods.

- the mediaeval hospital (15th century)
- the 19th century hospital (1825-1900)
- the modern general hospital.

In 1975 a dual-phase plan was launched to build a new clinic on the site of the old 19th century complex. The first phase of the new development was implemented in 1986. From then on, the mediaeval wards were no longer used to provide health care, and, to save them from gradual dilapidation they were restored and re-equipped to house a new socio-cultural and scientific centre. Phase two was implemented in 1991 and 1992.