Introduction
Medical activities at the Hôtel-Dieu public hospital site in Lyon, France, began closing down in 2008 and by December 2010 will cease completely. They are being transferred to new or modernised hospitals on the periphery of Lyon. The Hospices Civils de Lyon(I), owners of the premises, and the Municipality of Lyon, governors of the public hospitals, faced with the impossibility of modernising the Hôtel-Dieu, have issued a call for proposals to renovate and reconvert the site into a luxury complex with hotel, shops and business facilities. Cultural amenities, such as a museum, are an option in the terms of reference. Much of the Hôtel-Dieu, which will remain hospital property, is a classified national monument(II) and part of Lyon’s Unesco World Heritage Site(III). Consequently, maintenance of the historical architecture is an obligation. Tenders have already been submitted and the winning proposal will be announced in September 2010.

Initiated five years ago to regroup dispersed medical heritage, a project to create a major health museum in the restored Hôtel-Dieu is underway. Aiming to open in 2014, the museum will include the present Hôtel-Dieu museum, existing hospital, university and industrial collections and new collections from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The museum intends to reach a large public, develop innovative display techniques and present a variety of cultural and educational activities.

The future of the museum project is dependent on the results of the architectural project. If the winning proposal does not contain a health museum, no alternative location plans exist and it is probable that the present collections will go into storage.

In order to maximise the museum’s chances, project-leader Professor René Mornex has embarked on an information campaign. Multimedia information and communication technology are being exploited to gain political and public support and secure funding for the museum project.

Origin of the Hôtel-Dieu hospital in Lyon
Lyon, ancient capital of the Gaules, and France’s second economic and university centre, has a long health and medical tradition dating back to the early Middle Ages when hospitals were built to care for travellers and pilgrims. The Hôtel-Dieu, built on the west bank of the river Rhône, dates back to 1185. Between the eighteenth and early twentieth centuries the hospital, which covers 44 000 square metres, was the workplace of many famous doctors and surgeons and known for its technical innovations and training centre. Marc-Antoine Petit, Alexandre Lacassagne, Claude Martin, Etienne Destot, Mathieu Jaboulay and Leopold Ollier were among the doctors who developed experimental surgery, stomatology, prosthesis, radiology, forensic science and so on.

Existing collections

Hôtel-Dieu museum
A hospital museum was established in the Hôtel-Dieu in 1934. This was due, in part, to the destruction of the Charity Hospital, located further south on the west bank of the Rhône, and the need to preserve three rooms which had been classified national monument thanks to their exceptional architectural value. Situated in a 17th century hospital ward, creaking polished wooden floors and eight metre high ceilings give the museum its particular historical ambiance. The furniture, tapestries, paintings, medical, pharmaceutical and hospital artefacts on display are a tribute to the medical and industrial innovation associated with Lyon. Of equal importance is the heritage of the religious community, which cared for the sick for centuries, and Lyon citizens who generously co-funded hospital development.

Although this hospital museum is registered “Musée de France”(IV), and an inventory is being compiled of its 12 000-piece collection, there are very few twentieth century medical artefacts in the present collection. Modern exhibition techniques and computer technology are also absent.

Radiology collection
In 2003 the Hospices Civils de Lyon accepted an important collection of radiology artefacts and equipment gathered together by Albert Renaud(V) which, due to lack of display space, is in storage and only occasionally shown to the public. The collection is managed by an association, the Friends of the Albert Renaud Collection(VI). The scientific value and national importance of this material has been ascertained by the director of the Musée des Arts et Métiers, Serge Chambaud.

Claude Bernard Lyon 1 University collections
The Lyon Faculty of Medicine(VII) was created in 1877 and its first premises were located almost opposite the Hôtel-Dieu on the east bank of the Rhône on Quai Claude Bernard. In 1930, the Faculty moved to the Rockefeller site, opposite the Edouard Herriot pavilion hospital(VIII); the Faculty of Dentistry is located a short walk away on the Buire site. The area is home to three university museums: the Dentistry Museum, which was created by three university dental practitioners in 1978; the Anatomy Museum, based on Marc-Antoine Petit’s 1880’s collection; and the Museum of the History of Medicine and Pharmacy which was created by Alexandre Lacassagne in 1914. The museums are managed along different lines and each struggles to survive with limited resources and voluntary staff. No recent acquisitions have been made to the collections whose inventories are incomplete, or non-existent, and no modern display techniques are used. Finally, all three museums are threatened with closure; both faculties need extra teaching facilities and would like to reclaim the rooms the museums occupy. As a result, the Lyon 1 University is eager to unify its and the hospital’s medical collections and firmly supports the health museum project.

Medical industry in Lyon and private collections
In order to cater for expanding hospital needs and health care, an important medical industry grew up within Lyon and the surrounding area. Major significance can be accredited to the steel industry, responsible for the design, manufacture and distribution of surgical instruments which often bore the name of the surgeons that they were designed for. Thanks to this process doctors Paul Santy and Louis Paufique, respectively thoracic surgeon and ophthalmologist, became widely known for their innovations. From the early nineteenth century, Lyon became synonymous with the chemical industry(IX). Aspirin, vaccination and viral infection control are some of the City’s contributions to present health care and many international laboratories have their headquarters in Lyon: BioMérieux, Pasteur-Sanofi, Aguettant and so on. Today, Lyon occupies a leading position in biotechnological, pharmacological and cancer research.
A small private museum, the Musée de Sciences Biologiques Dr Mérieux(X), was opened in 2008 in Marcy l’Etoile, just north of Lyon. It promotes the Mérieux heritage in biotechnology, genetic engineering, vaccination and infectious disease control. Very few artefacts are on display as the museum exploits posters, maps, photography, films, and interactive media.

Veterinary collections
In 1761, Claude Bourgelat, squire of Louis XV, created the world’s first veterinary school in Lyon. It is now located in Marcy l’Etoile and its small Lesbre and Tagand Museum, only open to veterinary students, is a reminder of the links between animal and human medical sciences. In 1877, for example, Auguste Chauveau, professor of physiology and precursor in open-heart surgery, was both veterinary school director and professor at the newly opened Faculty of Medecine.
Although neither of these two museums are part of the major health museum project, they further illustrate the wealth of Lyon’s medical heritage.

Major Health Museum Project
Master-minded in 2009 by Bruno Jacomy, chief curator of the Confluence Museum(XI), the Lyon health museum project is innovative and ambitious. The plan is for a national museum and the project is possibly unique in Europe(XII). It is envisaged that a mixture of historical, traditional and contemporary medical heritage, display techniques, renovation, conservation and preservation methods, depending on the age of the artefacts, will be developed. The museum will be housed in the iconic Hôtel-Dieu; a place of memory where a restored hospital ward will retrace the history and original functions of the site.

The collections will concentrate on six major themes: humanism (a Lyonnaise tradition), health personnel, the body, the hospital, instruments and medication. Artefacts will be drawn from the five existing hospital and university collections already mentioned – hospital, radiology, dentistry, anatomy and the history of medicine – and will constitute the base of a permanent exhibition. A full inventory of the some 30 000 pieces will be undertaken and attempts made to ascertain ownership of individual items. This permanent collection, much of which pre-dates 1960, will be augmented by contemporary artefacts, including lasers and ultrasound equipment for example, which bear witness to the past 50 years of medical innovation in Lyon.

The cultural and scientific programme will explore the complex history of medicine as it has evolved around the globe, from the ancient Greeks up to present times. Improvements in health care, the ever-growing use of science and technology and the ever-increasing tendency to adhere to international norms and regulations will be considered. There is such a rich and intriguing universe to explore and explain.

Miniaturisation and automation of surgical instruments; digitalisation and intangible medical interventions; organ transplants; microscopic surgery at a distance, by remote control or robot; mutations in hospital architecture designed to accommodate modern equipment; and transformation of health care practice are just some of the subjects that will be developed.

Conferences and scientific publications are planned to complement this programme and seminars will concentrate on medical history, inventions that established Lyon’s reputation and present trends in medical and health sciences. More than a museum, it is intended that the project will serve as a resource centre and help bridge the gap between experts and public in search of a healthy lifestyle. It is hoped that the museum will comprehensively reach out to all publics: specialists, scholars, practitioners, students, citizens, ex-patients and their families and tourists; 100 000 visitors are expected each year.

Different discovery levels will integrate a wide variety of artefacts. Pedagogical supports will be available such as dioramas and the reconstruction of a denture work-bench, traditional cabinets and display cases, photography, posters, multimedia exhibits and animated sensorial demonstrations. Texture and matter should be part of the museum experience and exhibits will allow the visitor to touch, smell, hear and see parts of the human body, before disease or illness, during, after a medical intervention and recovery.

Programmed to open in 2014 the museum project has gained international, national and local support. Plans for the governing body, expected to take the form of a cooperative(XIII), are underway and potential members have already been invited to participate in the project. For the moment only local institutions have been approached but in the autumn, depending on the outcome of the Hôtel-Dieu restauration process, private parties will be contacted.

How will the museum incorporate new collections and fulfil its goals in contemporary museology?
Lyon is gradually realising the value of its rich industrial and technical heritage which is increasingly recognised as a core part of its identity and something to be proud of and preserved(XIV). The Confluence Museum, in collaboration with the Lyon 1 University and local industry, and along the guidelines of the national PATSTEC(XV) mission, plans to register and document recent scientific and technological, tangible and intangible, heritage. The health museum will maintain its links with the Lyon 1 University and the Confluence Museum and develop further links with medical practitioners and industrial partners, eager to participate in the museum project and donate equipment. This will enable the museum to continually update its collection and make new acquisitions.

The same partners will also provide a pool of experts for the educational programme. In order to extend the scope of its pedagogical outreach, the museum will develop partnerships with other regional, national and international academic and medical institutions. Special attention will be given to recent cancer research, virus control, vaccination, biotechnologies, micro and nanotechnologies and so on.

An international steering committee will oversee the scientific and cultural programme. Composed of museum and health experts, the members will advise on collections, make decisions about new acquisitions in accordance with the museum rationale, topics and design techniques. The interim committee(XVI), which met for the first time in September 2009, has already approved the museum project concept. The executive committee, consisting of curators from the actual hospital and university museums, currently plays an important role in documenting and preserving the existing collections and mobilising for their unification.

How is information and communication technology used in promoting the museum project?
At the time of writing this paper, the future of a major health museum in Lyon depends on the way in which the Hôtel-Dieu will be renovated. Most importantly, perhaps, who will do it and how.

Determined to maximise the museum project’s chances Professor René Mornex embarked on a public lobbying campaign with the support and input of the executive committee, the Friends of the Albert Renaud Collection and members of the revived Friends of the Hôtel-Dieu museum association(XVII).

A public meeting, held in the refectory of the Hôtel-Dieu in March 2010, with speakers René Mornex and Bruno Jacomy, was attended by more than 300 people. This resulted in a 100 new members of the Friends of the Hôtel-Dieu Museum association, received some media coverage and attracted medical practitioners to the cause; one doctor created an online petition(XVIII). The electronic signatures – 4 000 have already been collected – were presented to the Mayor of Lyon in July.

Encouraged by this success Professor Mornex, with the approval and funding of his partners, commissioned a film to present the collections and the museum project. The 30 minute-long documentary was shown to almost 450 people in June. It is a moving testimony to the commitment of the museum curators and their faith in the unification of existing collections in a Hôtel-Dieu major health museum. The film will be distributed in September to all members of the steering and executive committees as well as potential public and private partners.

In order to pursue the information campaign online a domain name in English and French has been registered with a European URL to signify the international nature of the project: www.musee-sante-Lyon.eu and www.health-museum-Lyon.eu. A future website will serve lobbying purposes: it will allow the sharing of information, mobilise support and raise funds. It will also act as a virtual museum, a window on the existing collections which will be inaccessible to the public during the Hôtel-Dieu renovation. Finally, in four years time, it is hoped that this website will evolve into the official website of the Major Health Museum in Lyon.
Notes and references

I Hospices Civils de Lyon: the Lyon public hospital services are the largest employer in Lyon and own several historical hospitals. Those that cannot be modernised are being sold, a fate common to many hospitals in other towns in France

II Built over several centuries, 80% of the Hôtel-Dieu is classified: all the 17th century buildings, the Pascalon Dome, the Large Dome, the Chapel, a part of the 18th and 19th century buildings including the refectory, the Small Dome, , the Soufflot façade (375 metres long) and all the roofs

III The centre of Lyon became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998

IV The Musées de France law of 2002 stipulates that all museums wishing to be recognised as state museums must comply with specific content and management guidelines such as maintaining inventories

V Albert Renaud, 1923-1990, radiology commercial engineer, spent his professional life collecting lamps, tubes, X-ray units and electric-magnetic appliances

VI Presided by Pr René Mornex, this association funds much of the health museum campaign

VII The Faculty of Medicine is now part of Lyon’s Claude Bernard Lyon 1 University (UCBL)

VIII Designed by the utopic Lyonnais architect, Tony Garnier, this pavilion hospital took 20 years to build and was the first university hospital of its kind

IX W ATKINSON: Le patrimoine scientifique et technique contemporain: une boîte à outils pour sa sauvegarde, October 2009 http://www.ensam.eu/fr/centres_et_instituts/centre_cluny/bibliotheque/ressources

X Run as an association, this private museum includes representatives of the town of Marcy l’Etoile, pharmaceutical firms (Sanofi Pasteur, BioMérieux, Mérial), and the Mérieux Foundation

XI Closed to the public since 2004, the Confluence Museum is a natural history museum whose collections date back to the 17th century. Its present concept associates material from human, earth, life and industrial sciences with questions of mankind and society

XII W ATKINSON : Enquête préalable à la mise en place d’un musée de la santé à Lyon : un état des lieux, May 2009. http://www.ensam.eu/fr/centres_et_instituts/centre_cluny/bibliotheque/ressources

XIII Etablissement public de coopération culturelle (EPCC) : this administrative structure enables public and private institutions to create and manage culturel amenities such as museums

XIV Interview with strategic and development department of Grand Lyon, the greater Lyon urban council, November 2009

XV Initiated at the University of Nantes in 2004, this national programme for documenting and recording contemporary scientific and technological heritage is coordinated by Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris and managed by Catherine Cuenca

XVI Present members include Robert Bud, head curator of medical sciences, Science Museum London; Anne Nardin head curator of the Paris hospitals museum; Serge Chambaud, director of the Musée des Arts et Métiers; Jacques Poisat, expert in medical history and university professor

XVII Presided by Michel Nicholas, the Friends of the Hôtel-Dieu Museum association provide funds and logistic support for public meetings in relation to the health museum information campaign

XVIII The petition can be signed at: www.hoteldieudelyon.fr

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