In 1978 the Kempton Park Hospital, situated in the residential area of Birchleigh, opened its doors to patients. It was upheld as one of the best medical facilities in the country at the time.
Now, 43 years later, the hospital stands with blood stains on the floors, expensive machines covered in years of decay and ghosts that haunt the hallways – making it one of the scariest places to visit in South Africa.
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Searches reveal that the hospital was closed in 1996 with no explanation – there are expensive medical machinery and equipment still on display in the building. Much like Hiroshima, the people left the building but the ghosts remain.
The hospital has stood in limbo for all these years. Not enough of a hazard to condemn and not a big enough commitment to reconstruct and upgrade. Instead, it has become a ghost hunter’s paradise and tour groups gather to take on the paranormal that lingers on all these years later.
The visiting hours have changed – these days the hospital only comes alive when everyone else is asleep. Anytime between 11pm – 3pm is when you can expect the most activity in the dilapidated building. Make sure you take torches, you’ll need to step over blood-stained floors, walk around broken wheelchairs and mind the mortuary table if you please.
There are cabinets and filling drawers still filled with documents. There are outdated computers, operating tables and empty hospital beds. There are also voices that curl your blood that seems to come from the walls if you listen closely and shadows that follow you on your tour so don’t make any sudden turns.
People born at the hospital often make a turn to find their birth records and revisit the theatres they were brought into this world in. The lighting in most remain, as do expensive ultra-sound equipment and CAT scanners – all worth millions of rands.
Ever since the hospital closed, there have been questions about what went wrong. There doesn’t seem to be a clear answer – just speculation that limited utilisation and the wrong location were strong factors as to why the doors were closed.
Which only leaves one use for the hospital – to visit the ghosts that haunt the grounds and relive the death of many patients, who can still be heard calling for help. Are you brave enough to answer the call?
