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The Largest Hospital In Brazil, A Project Begun In 1915, The Hospital Of Clinics Of FMUSP Grew Over A Century To Become The Largest Health Complex In The Country, In Structure And In Volume Of Care.
The assertion that the largest hospital in Brazil is the Hospital das Clínicas of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of São Paulo (HCFMUSP) is confirmed by a long history of growth and by numbers audited by various sources. Since its conception in the early 20th century to its most recent expansions, the trajectory of HCFMUSP shows the construction of a true pillar of the Unified Health System (SUS) and medical research in Latin America.
To understand its true dimension, it is necessary to look at its chronological evolution. The history of the complex, located in São Paulo, intertwines with the development of public health and science in the country.
The Beginning Of A Giant: From Conception To Inauguration (1915-1944)
The idea of a teaching hospital for the Faculty of Medicine of USP was born in 1915, from an agreement between the government of São Paulo and the Rockefeller Foundation from the United States. However, construction only began years later, in 1938.
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Brazilian city neighboring Paraguay becomes a ‘magnet’ for people seeking quality of life and high standards with exceptional growth and commutes of up to 15 minutes.
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A rare storm transformed part of the Gulf into an unlikely scene of hail, extreme rain, and tornado risk in the middle of the desert, with volumes that exceeded the annual average in a single day.
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A couple who only has Sundays free has built a hand-dug pool, a hamburger joint, a dance hall, and a playground in their own home without hiring a mason, and even with breaks due to accidents and the pandemic, the work has never truly stopped.
The hospital was officially created by Decree No. 13,192 on January 19, 1943, and inaugurated on April 19, 1944. From its inception, it was designed to be a center that combined care for the population, education for new doctors, and scientific research.
The Creation Of Specialized Institutes (1952-2008)
What transforms HCFMUSP into the largest hospital in Brazil is its structure of multiple institutes, each being a reference in its area. This growth occurred over several decades:
1952: establishment of the Institute of Psychiatry (IPq).
1953: founding of the Institute of Orthopedics and Traumatology (IOT).
1963: officialization of the Heart Institute (InCor), conceived in the 1950s.
1975: inauguration of the Institute of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (IMRea).
1976: creation of the Institute for Children and Adolescents (ICr).
1994: founding of the Institute of Radiology (InRad).
2008: inauguration of the Cancer Institute of the State of São Paulo (Icesp).
The most recent major update to the structure was in November 2022, with the inauguration of the modern Instituto Perdizes, which added 200 beds to the complex.
The Numbers That Prove The Leadership Of The Largest Hospital In Brazil
21st century data consolidates HCFMUSP’s position. The complex occupies a total area of 600 thousand square meters, 2.5 times larger than that of the Santa Casa de Misericórdia de São Paulo.
Its capacity for care is also superlative. Data from April 2025 indicates a capacity of 2,700 beds, an increase from the historical approximately 2,400 beds. This difference is explained by expansions, such as that of Instituto Perdizes. It is important to note that external reports, such as one from the consulting firm Global Health Intelligence from 2020, may show smaller numbers (1,185 beds), as they generally use methodologies that account for only a part of the complex, not the sum of all its institutes.
The volume of care, according to data from 2024, is also impressive:
2.98 million outpatient visits.
41 thousand surgeries.
73.4 thousand hospitalizations.
A Pillar Of Science And International Recognition
As a teaching hospital of USP, HCFMUSP is one of the largest biomedical research centers in Latin America. Its scientific output has more than doubled in a decade, jumping from 1,393 publications in 2012 to 2,947 in 2021, published in international databases such as PubMed and SciELO.
This work grants HCFMUSP a unique recognition. It is consistently ranked as the best public hospital in the country and is the only public Brazilian hospital to appear in global rankings, such as the list of the best hospitals in the world by the American magazine Newsweek.
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