In the early half of the 18th century, the residents of San Miguel el Grande (today San Miguel de Allende) began the planning processes for the erection of a hospital where poor people could be treated. After many years of red tape and efforts to raise funds, construction was finally begun in 1753 under the supervision of the cura (pastor), Juan Manuel de Villegas. The building was made up of two parts, the hospital and the church.
The church and hospital opened on 24 October, 1770. Don Manuel de Villegas is considered the founder of both. Originally, the hospital was under a Royal Patronage, thus all past documents refer to it as the Royal Hospital. It was named for San Rafael, the patron of the sick. His name means "medicine of God."
At first, the hospital was under the authority of the parish priest for the help he could muster from his parishioners, but as the parish grew in size, it became impossible for the priest to manage both parish and hospital.
By the beginning of the 19th century, the hospital was in complete disrepair. Funds were insufficient to cover salaries, medicines, and repairs to the building. In a space that had been designed to accommodate up to one hundred patients, only eight could be cared for by the one nurse. The hospital had been founded to care for people in poverty, without racial distinction, but because the Indians were the poorest of the poor, it became almost exclusively a hospital for Indians.
With the expropriation of Church property mandated by the reform laws (1859), the hospital and church became the property of the government. The hospital was renamed the Civil Hospital. In 1935, the hospital building was converted into a school and remains so today.
