St John's Hospital, Livingston

St John's Hospital is the main general hospital in Livingston, West Lothian, Scotland. Located in the Howden area of the town, it serves Livingston, the wider West Lothian region and some towns in other regions such as Lanarkshire and Edinburgh. St John's is one of three hospitals run by NHS Lothian which have accident and emergency services. St John's has special status as a teaching hospital for the University of Edinburgh Medical School.HistoryBangour General Hospital, near Dechmont to the north of Livingston, was the main hospital in the West Lothian area from 1939. Bangour had been built as an annexe of the village hospital, which had specialised in psychiatry. The Livingston Development Corporation(LDC), which oversaw the development of the new town of Livingston from 1962, had planned to move the general hospital to Livingston from around 1974. The new hospital was opened in 1989, by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Bangour General Hospital was closed in the early 1990s.