Pripyat: Hospital MsCh-126 Medico-Sanitary Unit

This report is part of a series from the ghost town of Pripyat and Chernobyl exclusion zone. Check out the Chernobyl and Pripyat main page for more reports.

Hospital MsCh-126 Medico-Sanitary unit was the general infirmary in Pripyat, serving the workers of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and their families. The hospital has been abandoned since the evacuation of Pripyat following the Chernobyl disaster.

The hospital could accommodate up to 410 patients and had a further three clinics. The hospital is a large complex of buildings of five interconnected buildings of 6 stories each.  The building sits on Druzhby Narodov street (Friendship of the People street) and occupies most of Microdistrict 1. The large letters on the roof read “Здоров’я народу – багатство країни” or “health of the people – riches of the country”.

The basement of the hospital contains the suits worn by the firemen who attended the scene at Chernobyl after the explosion. The firemen weretaken to the hospital by albulance after being exposed to such high levels of radiation that even after 28 years their suits still emit a lethal dose of radiation. Needless to say we avoided the basement where the suits were left, however part of a fireman’s hat has been moved into the reception area. Our dosimeters were capable of reading up to a maximum 999 microsievert per hour. When placed near the hat, the reading was 999, we do not know how much higher than that the radiation actually was. Average background radiation is around 0.02 microsievert per hour!

The hospital was one of my favourite buildings to visit in Pripyat. There were plenty of things to photograph – something different and intriguing in almost every room.  When exploring abandoned hospitals it’s common to find repetitive layouts, each floor built to the same design for example, but Pripyat Hospital has a different feel to each area, something different to offer every each corner.

Pripyat Hospital – Operating Room

Pripyat Hospital – Gynaecology chair

Pripyat Hospital – Room with bed and shelves

Pripyat Hospital – A bed in a patient room

Pripyat Hospital – Medical items left behind

Pripyat Hospital – Patient room

Pripyat Hospital – A room full of cots in the maternity ward

Pripyat Hospital – Crib between partitions

Pripyat Hospital – Operating Theatre

Pripyat Hospital – Signs demonstrating what to do in the event of an emergency

Pripyat Hospital – Newspapers from before the disaster

Pripyat Hospital – Medical Records

Pripyat Hospital – Book shelves

Pripyat Hospital – Doll in hospital bed

Pripyat Hospital – Wheel chair

Pripyat Hospital – Room with items left

Pripyat Hospital – View into a room

Pripyat Hospital – Shelves still stocked with items

Pripyat Hospital – Items on shelves

Pripyat Hospital – Another patient room

Pripyat Hospital – Records strewn across the floor

Pripyat Hospital – A messy room

Pripyat Hospital – Twin beds

Pripyat Hospital – Twin beds

Pripyat Hospital – More items on shelves

Pripyat Hospital – Corridor in the hospital

Pripyat Hospital – Sofa with 1985 throw

Pripyat Hospital – Decaying room

Pripyat Hospital – Photos of nurses

Pripyat Hospital – Photo detial

Pripyat Hospital – Waiting room

Pripyat Hospital – Examination room

Pripyat Hospital – Sign on door

Pripyat Hospital – Dosimeter reaching it’s maximum reading 999 millisieverts per hour – a dangerously high level – when placed next to an item of clothing worn by a fire fighter who attended the Chernobyl disaster. Backround radiation is 0.02 millisieverts per hour.