San Hipólito Hospital is a general medical facility in Mexico City that began as the first psychiatric facility in the Americas. It was founded by Brother Bernardino Álvarez in 1569. It was supported by the first religious order in Mexico called San Hipolito Order of Charity. The money used to maintain the hospital came from alms that Christians collected on the streets. The people who worked on San Hipólito Hospital were prisoners, captured pirates and slaves, which included the indigenous. The hospital's building has changed its purpose several times. It started as a psychiatric hospital that then changed into a military base, which three years later was used again as a hospital. In 1905, the building was partially destroyed. When it was rebuilt, it became a shelter for poor people. At the end of 1970, the facilities were once again a hospital but this time as a general medical center.
