Mbingo Baptist Hospital started as a leprosy (now usually called Hanson's Disease) treatment center in 1952. This building was the inpatient ward for treatment of leprosy patients. There were originally two buildings for leprosy patients, but as the treatment of the disease became more effective, fewer people need to be treated as inpatients and only one building is used now, and it is seldom very busy. The rest of the hospital has grown while the leprosy treatment function has shifted to outpatient care (there is still plenty of leprosy to treat).