More about Our History

1867

• Helsinki Deaconess Institute started out with a hospital for 8 patients for treating epidemics. In 1867, the conditions in hospitals in Helsinki were rather poor, and the new hospital therefore met a real need. The Deaconess Institute hospital was the first in Finland to employ trained medical staff.

• In 1883, Sister Lina Snellman became manageress of the Institute. She created the format for its medical treatment and educational activities. It was during her time that the home system based on the Kaiserswerth model became firmly established. The system was finally wound up in 1959.

• A building was designed for the Institute and completed in the Kallio district of Helsinki in 1897.

• At the beginning of the 1900s, the Deaconess Institute founded several specialized hospitals. A hospital for treating leprosy was established in Helsinki in 1900, a nursing home for women suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis in Sipoo in 1904, a hospital for women suffering from venereal diseases and a children's hospital for children suffering from osseous tuberculosis in Helsinki in 1905.

• The Deaconess Institute began work in the area of children's homes in Helsinki in 1912 and Espoo in 1914. Work began in Karjalohja in 1912 upon the endowment of the Heponiemi Estate to the Deaconess Institute. In 1928, the Elim Home was completed in the Institute complex to provide a home for old sisters and other old people plus those suffering from chronic diseases. The same year saw the beginning of treatment for mentally retarded children. From 1929 to 1949, the Institute housed a school for home economics and household management. The Nursing School was established in 1932. In 1957, its name was changed to Deaconess School of the Helsinki Deaconess Institute. In 1969, the school complex was renamed the Helsinki Diaconia College. Hotel Aurora was completed in 1970.

• In 1972, new legislation on occupational health came into force in Finland and the Deaconess Institute established a medical clinic for the purposes of occupational health. In 1980, the Institute acquired a majority holding in the research centre Lauttasaaren Tutkimuskeskus Oy. The deal also included several medical centres around Helsinki and marked the beginning of Diacor terveyspalvelut Oy's health care services.

  In 1988, a new building for the Diaconia College was completed in the Institute complex, as was the Kotikallio Service Centre in the Pitäjänmäki district of Helsinki. The same year also saw the introduction of a new form of work in the shape of diaconal projects.

• The Deaconess Institute's welfare work among drug abusers began in the Pellas district of Espoo in 1995. A couple of years later, national 24-hour telephone counselling services were launched upon the establishment of the Drug Addiction Treatment Clinic in Helsinki.

• In 1996, all health care services of the Deaconess Institute - including the hospital - were transferred to Diacor terveyspalvelut Oy, a health care service provider in the form of a limited company. During the same year, the Retreat Centre at Heponiemi in Karjalohja was inaugurated, and the national Diaconia Polytechnic began work on an experimental basis. The polytechnic was placed on a regular footing in 2000.

  The various training units of the school were combined in 1994. In 1996, new entrants to college-level training in the Diaconia College were transferred to the Diaconia Polytechnic.

• In 2000, the Deaconess Institute inaugurated the Munkkisaari Activities Centre, with activities focusing on drug abuse welfare work and mental health care. Another significant form of work is Salli, a drop-in centre for women. A housing unit was organized for women who had been living for a long time in boarding houses. At the end of the same year, a service centre for HIV-positive drug addicts also began operations.

Aurora Karamzin
Helsinki Deaconess Institute Museum