TeeJF
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So... here's an exploration we carried out back in what passed for the summer last year 
The reason we haven't created a report before today is that, quite frankly we didn't enjoy this place overly much - not that there's much to complain about as hopefully you will see with the piccies, but frankly modern buildings seldom get our juices going! Anyhow for what it's worth here's our report on Hospital HH2.
It is not completely clear as to why this hospital is known as "HH 2" but I understand from conversations with other urban explorers that the HH initials in the title stand for "Heilig Hart" which translates as Holy Heart from the Dutch/Vlaamsch. I was also told that the church was originally involved in some way with this hospital but again I cannot comment with complete certainty other than to say that the suffix 2 pertains to the fact that in Belgium there are several of these HH hospitals - for example HH 1 is situated close to the Dutch border up in the north east of the country - we have as yet to explore it so watch this space as they say!
To the layman it would appear at first glance that HH2 was formerly a general hospital - this is not the case. The presence on the ground floor of several delivery rooms in a large maternity suite indicates its main purpose however the hospital also specialised in paediatrics. We found at least one conventional operating theatre, and we saw signage indicating a physiotherapy department - known as Ergotherapie in Dutch and Vlaamsch. From past explorer's reports too it is clear that there was once a mortuary complete with fridges however these have now been removed. On one of the upper floors we also found a laboratory suite complete with an isolation cabinet for working on tissue samples without exposing the technician to any risk of infection or to toxic chemicals.
As far back as 1273 a hospital of sorts, though perhaps not as we now might now define the word, existed close to where HH2 stands forlorn and empty today. The town in which it is located sat firmly astride the pilgrim's over land route to Rome and on to Jerusalem, and a document dated 1408 mentions the "Passanten lieden gasthuis van minheere Sint Jooris" - a shelter or guest house provided by charitable persons and operated by Augustine nuns from the adjacent convent. Although it was primarily a place of rest and succour for religious travellers the nuns also treated sick pilgrims so this may be regarded as the beginning of the hospital. By the time of the French Revolution - Belgium did not exist as a country until 1830 so this area was part of France at the time - Heilig Hart Hospital was recognised as a civil hospital. The next major landmark was in 1936 when a dedicated maternity clinic was built and then in 1952 the current hospital buildings were erected. Since then there have been constant changes - in 1967 a separate non-profit making organisation was established for the operation of the hospital and in 1980 a new wing was inaugurated, finally being designated "maternity and paediatric" in 1982. But by the early years of the 21st century the writing was on the wall for HH2 as a progressive merging of the hospital with a second more modern one further into town began. Finally in 2009 HH2 closed its doors for the last time.
A rather unusual feature of HH2 is that contrary to expectation the main entrance is situated on the first floor accessed by a long ramp curving around the building from the west side - BELOW. The ground upon which the hospital is built is completely flat therefore a ground floor entrance suite would have been far simpler and much less expensive to build - I don't doubt there was some logic in the architect's design though I have to say that exactly what logic he applied totally defeats me!
I wouldn't normally discuss getting in to a site in the open forum but before you report this particular hypocritical mod to the site admin dear reader please read on a while and then hopefully my reasons for bending the rule will become readily apparent as I attaempt to conjure up an an adequate picture of a lardy squeezing through what amounts to a vertical letter box for your amusement
Getting inside to explore this hospital was interesting to say the least and we had actually made two visits before we managed to gain access. On the first occasion we spotted a gaping hole about 6 feet up a wall where a large section of double glazing had been smashed but any form of visual screening from prying eyes at this entry point was none existent, recent comprehensive pollarding of a row of trees leaving this aspect of the hospital completely open to view from a row of houses close by. Erring on the side of extreme discretion as always we decided it was a no no in daylight so we left feeling rather disappointed. A few weeks later we decided a re-visit was on the cards but during our preliminary circuit of the building we noticed that the previous access point was now securely boarded, so we were left considering the only alternative - someone had recently created a potential entry point in an area that was not overlooked. The question now was whether or not I would be able to squeeze my not inconsiderable bulk through a vertical gap at waist height barely 12 inches wide by about 3 feet high, the problem exacerbated by the fact that I would have to shimmy my way in, twisting from the standing position on to my side without support because my feet were off the ground!!! Needless to say, with a helping hand under my right boot providing sufficient support I just about managed it but I was not terrifically pleased to find what appeared to be human excreta smeared all over sheets of broken glass and an old office table immediately behind the hole. Of course with my feet still firmly resident in the outside world at this point I had little option but to put my hands down precisely where my common sense, my eyes, and above all my nose, told me I really would be better off avoiding. Thankfully neither of us who make up "TeeJF" urb-ex without some form of serious hand protection but I was still amazed when I gingerly sniffed my gloves to find there was nothing worse on them than a bit of mortar dust - result! Due to her petite build TJ had rather less trouble getting in and thankfully with me on the inside we were able to keep her clear of hazards, both biological and material.
Once we were in, and after the usual silent pause to listen for evidence of undesirable company, we were able to proceed with relative ease, there being few barriers to progress. At this time the building was still water tight and hence there was little in the way of internal decay. There has inevitably been some vandalism and tagging however it is minimal when compared with what we find when exploring abandoned buildings in the UK. Sadly though there is not much to see in the way of artefacts as anything with much value is inevitably long since gone - only a few beds and assorted bits and bobs remain with the exception of the tissue handling cabinet in the lab area, and even that was little more than a shell.
However the basement level was a totally different matter altogether - we found the plant room very quickly, and it appeared to be complete and undisturbed. Considering that the standby generators are down here together with the boilers, compressors et all - precisely the kind of stuff pykeys inevitably target - it is likely that the removal of the equipment most readily associated with a hospital must have been carried out at the time of closure. Whilst down in the plant room we heard voices outside through the louvered air vents in the wall. Given the obvious attitude to security at this site we immediately wondered if we had been spotted getting in and if this might be the police, the time elapsed being about right for a jam-jar (or Speculoos jar) full of le dibble to arrive, so we froze and waited with our hearts thumping. But whoever it was soon disappeared and we were left to continue our exploration in peace.
So... our overall impressions?
Well to be perfectly honest it's an OK explore - and yet paradoxically it's not brilliant despite the fact that it is obviously kept extremely secure and therefore offers little or no opportunity to metal thieves and pykeys. I have never seen a site where previously open points of entry are so rapidly re-sealed and I am 99% certain that our route in will no longer be open now. Add to which, when we were over again in February 2013, just eight months later, we could not visually locate the hospital as we drove past which may mean it has now been demolished - that or we weren't looking in the right place of course, but that's very doubtful quite frankly. In view then of the secure nature of the building and its relatively intact state it ought to have been a super explore, and so it's still rather hard to pin down why we remained so under-whelmed throughout our visit. I think this site can best be summed up by saying that if you enjoy wandering along endless corridors in a charm less, utilitarian building where the only remaining furniture is MDF/chip board cupboards and cabinets bolted to the walls, then this is for you. But if you prefer something a little more visually stimulating then perhaps this is one to bypass - and that's easy enough because it is situated literally 30 seconds from a major motorway!
The photos...
The words, functional, grey, glass and concrete come to mind in no particular order
Such a pity this wasn't a usable way in - it would have been so much easier
Pretty self explanatory I think
From our entry point at ground level we had to go up to the first floor to find reception.
...and here it is.
The central staircase where we found the first abandoned bed frame of several.
After exploring in the UK it's lovely to find a place so un-chavved.
This is one of 'er indoors pix. Arty or what I didn't even see it.
A bit of stair porn - but it's only PG I'm afraid. We had to head off downstairs again to find the theatres and the plant room.
On the supervisor's control platform in the plant room.
She's done it again
The main generator for security against local power outages....
A couple of air compressors with attached storage cylinders to pipe medium pressure clean air around the wards etc.
An operating theatre.
medical gas delivery panel in the theatre. Note the dial showing pressure still in the system.
This sign translates as "Keep the door shut". From this and what we found inside the room it looks like it was part of the x-ray diagnostics suite.
This appears to be a diagnostic report and as best we can it translates as follows:
1. Research should be done with short cantijd (exposure ?) which reduces the resolution.
2. Important (to avoid ?) disturbing motion artefacts.
3. Possible calcified vertebral atheromatosis derteria(tion ?).
4. No intracranial haemorrhage suspected or visualized....
Bed side entertainment system - I remeber these from years ago
If this were in the UK it would have been smashed/nicked/tagged - or all three.
Physiotherapy.
But then don't we all .
We think this was a laboratory...
Not least because we found this in there. We think it's a tissue handling cabinet.
This is the lift machine house on the roof.
And finally, roof topping Belgian style
Hope you enjoyed it, thanks for looking
The reason we haven't created a report before today is that, quite frankly we didn't enjoy this place overly much - not that there's much to complain about as hopefully you will see with the piccies, but frankly modern buildings seldom get our juices going! Anyhow for what it's worth here's our report on Hospital HH2.It is not completely clear as to why this hospital is known as "HH 2" but I understand from conversations with other urban explorers that the HH initials in the title stand for "Heilig Hart" which translates as Holy Heart from the Dutch/Vlaamsch. I was also told that the church was originally involved in some way with this hospital but again I cannot comment with complete certainty other than to say that the suffix 2 pertains to the fact that in Belgium there are several of these HH hospitals - for example HH 1 is situated close to the Dutch border up in the north east of the country - we have as yet to explore it so watch this space as they say!
To the layman it would appear at first glance that HH2 was formerly a general hospital - this is not the case. The presence on the ground floor of several delivery rooms in a large maternity suite indicates its main purpose however the hospital also specialised in paediatrics. We found at least one conventional operating theatre, and we saw signage indicating a physiotherapy department - known as Ergotherapie in Dutch and Vlaamsch. From past explorer's reports too it is clear that there was once a mortuary complete with fridges however these have now been removed. On one of the upper floors we also found a laboratory suite complete with an isolation cabinet for working on tissue samples without exposing the technician to any risk of infection or to toxic chemicals.
As far back as 1273 a hospital of sorts, though perhaps not as we now might now define the word, existed close to where HH2 stands forlorn and empty today. The town in which it is located sat firmly astride the pilgrim's over land route to Rome and on to Jerusalem, and a document dated 1408 mentions the "Passanten lieden gasthuis van minheere Sint Jooris" - a shelter or guest house provided by charitable persons and operated by Augustine nuns from the adjacent convent. Although it was primarily a place of rest and succour for religious travellers the nuns also treated sick pilgrims so this may be regarded as the beginning of the hospital. By the time of the French Revolution - Belgium did not exist as a country until 1830 so this area was part of France at the time - Heilig Hart Hospital was recognised as a civil hospital. The next major landmark was in 1936 when a dedicated maternity clinic was built and then in 1952 the current hospital buildings were erected. Since then there have been constant changes - in 1967 a separate non-profit making organisation was established for the operation of the hospital and in 1980 a new wing was inaugurated, finally being designated "maternity and paediatric" in 1982. But by the early years of the 21st century the writing was on the wall for HH2 as a progressive merging of the hospital with a second more modern one further into town began. Finally in 2009 HH2 closed its doors for the last time.
A rather unusual feature of HH2 is that contrary to expectation the main entrance is situated on the first floor accessed by a long ramp curving around the building from the west side - BELOW. The ground upon which the hospital is built is completely flat therefore a ground floor entrance suite would have been far simpler and much less expensive to build - I don't doubt there was some logic in the architect's design though I have to say that exactly what logic he applied totally defeats me!
I wouldn't normally discuss getting in to a site in the open forum but before you report this particular hypocritical mod to the site admin dear reader please read on a while and then hopefully my reasons for bending the rule will become readily apparent as I attaempt to conjure up an an adequate picture of a lardy squeezing through what amounts to a vertical letter box for your amusement
Getting inside to explore this hospital was interesting to say the least and we had actually made two visits before we managed to gain access. On the first occasion we spotted a gaping hole about 6 feet up a wall where a large section of double glazing had been smashed but any form of visual screening from prying eyes at this entry point was none existent, recent comprehensive pollarding of a row of trees leaving this aspect of the hospital completely open to view from a row of houses close by. Erring on the side of extreme discretion as always we decided it was a no no in daylight so we left feeling rather disappointed. A few weeks later we decided a re-visit was on the cards but during our preliminary circuit of the building we noticed that the previous access point was now securely boarded, so we were left considering the only alternative - someone had recently created a potential entry point in an area that was not overlooked. The question now was whether or not I would be able to squeeze my not inconsiderable bulk through a vertical gap at waist height barely 12 inches wide by about 3 feet high, the problem exacerbated by the fact that I would have to shimmy my way in, twisting from the standing position on to my side without support because my feet were off the ground!!! Needless to say, with a helping hand under my right boot providing sufficient support I just about managed it but I was not terrifically pleased to find what appeared to be human excreta smeared all over sheets of broken glass and an old office table immediately behind the hole. Of course with my feet still firmly resident in the outside world at this point I had little option but to put my hands down precisely where my common sense, my eyes, and above all my nose, told me I really would be better off avoiding. Thankfully neither of us who make up "TeeJF" urb-ex without some form of serious hand protection but I was still amazed when I gingerly sniffed my gloves to find there was nothing worse on them than a bit of mortar dust - result! Due to her petite build TJ had rather less trouble getting in and thankfully with me on the inside we were able to keep her clear of hazards, both biological and material.
Once we were in, and after the usual silent pause to listen for evidence of undesirable company, we were able to proceed with relative ease, there being few barriers to progress. At this time the building was still water tight and hence there was little in the way of internal decay. There has inevitably been some vandalism and tagging however it is minimal when compared with what we find when exploring abandoned buildings in the UK. Sadly though there is not much to see in the way of artefacts as anything with much value is inevitably long since gone - only a few beds and assorted bits and bobs remain with the exception of the tissue handling cabinet in the lab area, and even that was little more than a shell.
However the basement level was a totally different matter altogether - we found the plant room very quickly, and it appeared to be complete and undisturbed. Considering that the standby generators are down here together with the boilers, compressors et all - precisely the kind of stuff pykeys inevitably target - it is likely that the removal of the equipment most readily associated with a hospital must have been carried out at the time of closure. Whilst down in the plant room we heard voices outside through the louvered air vents in the wall. Given the obvious attitude to security at this site we immediately wondered if we had been spotted getting in and if this might be the police, the time elapsed being about right for a jam-jar (or Speculoos jar) full of le dibble to arrive, so we froze and waited with our hearts thumping. But whoever it was soon disappeared and we were left to continue our exploration in peace.
So... our overall impressions?
Well to be perfectly honest it's an OK explore - and yet paradoxically it's not brilliant despite the fact that it is obviously kept extremely secure and therefore offers little or no opportunity to metal thieves and pykeys. I have never seen a site where previously open points of entry are so rapidly re-sealed and I am 99% certain that our route in will no longer be open now. Add to which, when we were over again in February 2013, just eight months later, we could not visually locate the hospital as we drove past which may mean it has now been demolished - that or we weren't looking in the right place of course, but that's very doubtful quite frankly. In view then of the secure nature of the building and its relatively intact state it ought to have been a super explore, and so it's still rather hard to pin down why we remained so under-whelmed throughout our visit. I think this site can best be summed up by saying that if you enjoy wandering along endless corridors in a charm less, utilitarian building where the only remaining furniture is MDF/chip board cupboards and cabinets bolted to the walls, then this is for you. But if you prefer something a little more visually stimulating then perhaps this is one to bypass - and that's easy enough because it is situated literally 30 seconds from a major motorway!
The photos...
The words, functional, grey, glass and concrete come to mind in no particular order
Such a pity this wasn't a usable way in - it would have been so much easier
Pretty self explanatory I think
From our entry point at ground level we had to go up to the first floor to find reception.
...and here it is.
The central staircase where we found the first abandoned bed frame of several.
After exploring in the UK it's lovely to find a place so un-chavved.
This is one of 'er indoors pix. Arty or what
I didn't even see it.
A bit of stair porn - but it's only PG I'm afraid. We had to head off downstairs again to find the theatres and the plant room.
On the supervisor's control platform in the plant room.
She's done it again
The main generator for security against local power outages....
A couple of air compressors with attached storage cylinders to pipe medium pressure clean air around the wards etc.
An operating theatre.
medical gas delivery panel in the theatre. Note the dial showing pressure still in the system.
This sign translates as "Keep the door shut". From this and what we found inside the room it looks like it was part of the x-ray diagnostics suite.
This appears to be a diagnostic report and as best we can it translates as follows:
1. Research should be done with short cantijd (exposure ?) which reduces the resolution.
2. Important (to avoid ?) disturbing motion artefacts.
3. Possible calcified vertebral atheromatosis derteria(tion ?).
4. No intracranial haemorrhage suspected or visualized....
Bed side entertainment system - I remeber these from years ago
If this were in the UK it would have been smashed/nicked/tagged - or all three.
Physiotherapy.
But then don't we all
.
We think this was a laboratory...
Not least because we found this in there. We think it's a tissue handling cabinet.
This is the lift machine house on the roof.
And finally, roof topping Belgian style
Hope you enjoyed it, thanks for looking 
