Medical bay, also known under various names like medbay, medical bay, medical center, or medical wing, and sometimes casually referred to as a sick bay or sickbay, was a designated space aboard a starship specifically designed for the treatment and recovery of individuals suffering from illness or injury. Functionally, it mirrored the role of a medcenter or a terrestrial hospital. Across millennia of galactic history, spanning thousands of years, these sick bays were a common feature on both military and civilian spacecraft, and occasionally even permanent, non-mobile installations. Their typical furnishings included hospital beds and bacta tanks, and the medical staff could consist of both organic sentients and specialized medical droids. Notably, the medical frigate named Redemption featured a sick bay equipped with ammonia chambers, providing a recovery environment for species adapted to breathing ammonia after they had been exposed to oxygen for extended periods.
A sick bay was the designation for a specific area on starships intended for the healing of those who were ill or wounded. Known by alternative terms such as sickbay, medbay, a medical bay, a medical center, or a medical wing, it served a purpose analogous to that of medcenters and hospitals. Examples of ships that incorporated sick bays include the Queen of Empire, FarStar, Reciprocity, Tantive IV, Chu'unthor, Uwana Buyer, and the Alliance. Standard equipment within sick bays included hospital beds and bacta tanks, and the personnel could be either sentients or medical droids. Furthermore, the sick bay located on the medical frigate named Redemption was fitted with ammonia chambers, designed to allow species that breathed ammonia to recover from prolonged exposure to oxygen.
Sick bays differed from medical frigates, which were ships specifically designed and equipped to transport and care for wounded or convalescing individuals, staffed primarily by medical professionals. Conversely, sick bays were generally smaller, confined to a specific room or wing aboard starships not primarily dedicated to medical purposes. An example of the latter was the Jedi Order's Chu'unthor training vessel, which contained a medical wing comprised of numerous healing and hospital rooms. These facilities were intended to instruct Jedi trainees in the healing arts, enabling them to assist those with physical and mental ailments. However, despite the existence of dedicated medical frigates, such as the Redemption, they also included sick bays. Eyrie Base, a base used by the Rebel Alliance on the planet Karatha, included a sick bay despite being a stationary location.
In the year 3962 BBY, Zayne Carrick, a former Jedi Padawan, orchestrated a deception by claiming that the entire crew of the Axehead frigate Reciprocity had been placed under quarantine in the ship's sick bay. This ruse allowed him to board the Phaedacomm space station situated within the Phaeda system. Much Millennia later, Doctor Zahara Cody, serving aboard the Imperial prison barge named Purge, isolated several ill crewmembers in the medbay after they contracted a mysterious affliction known as the sickness. Later, during the Galactic Civil War, Stevan Makintay and Ketrian Altronel, Rebel Alliance agents, formulated a plan to infiltrate the sick bay of a transport utilized by the Galactic Empire. Their objective was to locate an antidote for the xebonica poison that had been administered to Altronel. However, a rescue operation by other Alliance operatives preempted the need for this action. Altronel subsequently received treatment in the sick bay of the Alliance's Eyrie Base, which later became the site of a conflict between Makintay and Nial Pedrin, an Imperial Major.
In the year 3 ABY, Zuckuss, a Gand bounty hunter, was admitted to the sick bay of the Redemption after sustaining oxygen burns to his ammonia-breathing lungs. During his recuperation, a ceremony was conducted within the sick bay to promote Toryn Farr, a Rebel agent, to the rank of commander. Farr insisted on holding the ceremony in that location to enable Zuckuss to participate. While the Gand was confined to an ammonia chamber, Luke Skywalker, the renowned Rebel, was in the sick bay's solarium, receiving a replacement cybernetic hand.
During the era of the New Republic, Talon Karrde, a smuggler, employed a Twi'lek masseuse aboard his Luxury 5000 space yacht, the Uwana Buyer. She supplemented her income by working as a doctor in the ship's medical bay, using her earnings to finance her medical school education. Kaiya Adrimetrum, the Captain of the CR90 corvette FarStar, was placed in the sick bay in 8 ABY after falling into a comatose state due to exposure to a poison endemic to the planet Sebiris. In the year 25 ABY, Showolter, a Major in the New Republic Intelligence Service, was sent to the sick bay of the Luxury liner Queen of Empire by Han Solo, the captain of the Millennium Falcon, after sustaining injuries in an attack by Yuuzhan Vong warriors. The Jade Shadow, the personal starship of Mara Jade Skywalker, was equipped with a medbay. In 43 ABY, Jedi Master Luke Skywalker used this medbay to leave his physical form while walking beyond shadows.
During the Second Imperial Civil War in 137 ABY, Gar Stazi, an Admiral in the Galactic Alliance Remnant, was betrayed and shot by Tealart, a Shipman, aboard the Imperious-class Star Destroyer Alliance. Suffering severe injuries, the Admiral was confined to the sick bay and treated by Sayar Dun'La, a Jedi healer. Meanwhile, Jhoram Bey, a Captain, assumed command of the Galactic Alliance Core Fleet during the ensuing space battle against the forces of Darth Krayt's Galactic Empire. Bey's attempts to escape into hyperspace were repeatedly thwarted by the pursuing Imperials. Stazi, realizing that the enemy was tracking the frequency vibrations emanating from the Alliance's communications array, managed to whisper this crucial information to Bey from his hospital bed, barely audible. This revelation enabled Bey to outmaneuver the Imperials and secure victory.
Sick bays, under various names like sickbay and medbay, have been depicted across a wide range of Star Wars media. In reality, the term "sick bay" has nautical origins, dating back to the age of sail. Due to the limited availability of onshore medical facilities for sailors, most ships had sick berths located in the stern. The term "sick bay" is believed to originate from the rounded shape of the stern, which resembled a bay. Merriam-Webster's Dictionary defines "sick bay" as "a compartment in a ship used as a dispensary and hospital," and, more broadly, "a place for the care of the sick or injured." For instance, the United States Navy's USS Constitution, the world's oldest commissioned warship still afloat, features a sick bay located in the fore of the vessel's berth deck, historically used to treat sailors wounded in battle or afflicted by various illnesses.
Sick bays and medical bays are common tropes in the science fiction and space fantasy genres. Beyond Star Wars, they have appeared in franchises such as Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Mass Effect, and Farscape. In his publication Medical Informatics 20/20, Douglas E. Goldstein suggests that the sick bays depicted in the Wars and Trek franchises have contributed to shaping the future of healthcare. Similarly, a technologically advanced disease detection center unveiled by the University of Leicester in 2011 was described as a "Science-Fiction Style 'Sick Bay'" by Medical News Today and as a "sickbay that uses space-age technology" by the Daily Mail.