The Contribution of Mutual Provident Societies to the Spanish Hospital System: the case of La Alianza

Abstract

Mutual aid societies comprised a varied set of social, private and non-profit institutions that provided social welfare benefits to a large part of the population, also in the event of illness, during the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. Only a few hospitals were promoted by these institutions in Spain, perhaps because most of them did not have enough members to do so. Hospitals of this type were mainly located in Catalonia, the Spanish region that saw the greatest development of workers’ mutual aid societies. This study uses the paradigmatic case of the hospitals of La Alianza to show that these hospitals were open to diverse types of patients (private or referred by other institutions) and were economically dependent on multiple sources. The changes that most influenced these institutions in the second half of the 20th century are analyzed, i.e., the processes of federating mutual societies and establishing public agreements. These hospitals participated in the development of new medical and surgical specialties. It was precisely the hospitals of La Alianza that led to a further development of this entity.