Frans de Wever

Frans Marie Joseph de Wever (29 January 1869, in Nuth – 9 September 1940, in Heerlen ) was a Dutch general practitioner, municipal doctor, rail doctor, mining doctor, and hospital founder.

Early years in Heerlen After graduating as a medical doctor, de Wever settled in Heerlen in 1897 But the idea of a hospital set up near the mines, with the possibilities of Protestant doctors and nurses, convinced Savelberg to co-found the hospital.

In September 1904 Savelberg blessed the hospital, built in the garden of Mariabad, near the corner of Akerstraat and Putgraaf. Presumably the hospital was named Maria Hilf Spital. There were two wards (one for men and one for women) with ten beds each, two rooms per ward, one operating room, and a kitchen.