Scots Hotel
The Scots Hotel is a hotel in Tiberias, Israel, formerly the Scots Mission Hospital, also known as the Scottish Compound. The hotel is run by the Church of Scotland.
History
Hospital
Scottish doctor David Watt Torrance graduated his medical studies in Glasgow in 1883, after which he travelled to Ottoman Palestine where he assisted in the inauguration of the Sea of Galilee Medical Mission. Back in Tiberias after undertaking further training in Egypt, Damascus and Nazareth, he opened a two-room hospital near the Franciscan monastery, offering services to patients of all religions. In 1894, the hospital moved to the current, larger premises at Beit abu Shamnel abu Hannah, which initially had 24 beds and 6 cots for patients. The following year, Dr Torrance was ordained in the Free [Church of Scotland (1843–1900)|Free Church of Scotland]. During World War I, he served in Scotland being in charge of a war hospital, but then returned to Tiberias where he died in 1923. That same year his son, Dr. Herbert Watt Torrance, also a graduate of Glasgow University, was appointed head of the hospital. His work during the British Mandate was later rewarded with an OBE.In 1949, following the establishment of the State of Israel, the Scottish Hospital became a maternity hospital in charge of midwifery and gynaecology in Northern Galilee under the supervision of the Israeli Department of Health. Herbert Watt Torrance retired in 1953 and returned to Scotland. The hospital closed in 1959.