Management and staff are pictured outside Dr. Gray's hospital in Elgin to commemorate its 200th anniversary. Photograph by Jason Hedges.
Staff members at Moray’s biggest hospital have kicked-off celebrations to mark its 200th birthday.
Dr Gray’s Hospital opened its doors to patients on January 1, 1818 and to commemorate this, a group called Friends of Dr Gray’s has been formed to run a year-long programme of events.
Staff members from different sections of the hospital came together to launch the effort by holding a mini-celebration at the historic site.
They have already launched an ambitious campaign to restore the site’s most prominent feature – its famous dome – with the aim of raising £60,000 to do this.
Other projects being planned for 2019 include an exhibition of historical images which will be hosted at the hospital, as well as the development of a disused courtyard.
The complex is named after Dr Alexander Gray who was an Elgin native and worked as a surgeon with the East India Company in Bengal.
When he died in 1807, he left £20,000 in his will, which is worth about £1.8 million today, in order to establish a hospital for Moray.
The site now has 550 staff, nearly 200 beds and in 2018 cared for about 20,000 patients.
