The Parisian General Hospital was structured as a consolidation of a number of existing institutions under shared mission and management. These establishments initially included the Maison de Saint-Louis de Salpêtrière, Maison de Saint-Jean de Bicêtre, Notre Dame de La Pitié, La Savonnerie, and Scipion. However, Maison du Saint-Esprit and the Enfants-Trouvés were soon added and Savonnerie dropped. In 1670, a royal edict also added the Foundling Hospital, to house abandoned children. By 1680, the General Hospital had expanded to encompass a total of nine different institutions. Many of the hospital's constituent institutions had previously served as charities for different indigent groups.
