An interesting question and would love to know some details. But I like to remind us that we should not project our modern lifestyle practices and values to the past and feel dejected,sad, mad or angry to our ancestors :-)
Lot of ref. for hospitals (we have inscriptions). If we are looking for ref. near chennai, then we have a good ref. for Hospital near Valajabad in Thirumukkodal.
Don't we ref. in Rajarajeeswaram inscriptions? let us read the details one more time.