Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital is one of the largest hospitals in the world, occupying 173 acres, with 3,200 beds and almost 7,000 staff members. Bara, as it is known, is located in Soweto, a vast township just outside Johannesburg. With a population of around one million people and high poverty and unemployment rates, Soweto is often a very violent place.
Each year Bara attracts a significant number of foreign doctors, especially trauma surgeons, who come to train, work or study in the hospital known to be truly unique in terms of the volume and variety of injuries. More than two thousand patients check into the hospital daily and it is estimated that nearly half of them are HIV positive. Multiple stab wounds and lacerations, numerous gunshot wounds and car accidents contribute to the long list of cases doctors routinely have to deal with, and therefore Bara is considered the best place in the world for Trauma Surgery practice. In addition to medical professionals from all over the world who flock to work at the hospital on a regular basis, the governments of Britain and Germany have sent their military paramedics here for training.