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A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized
health science The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to health sciences: Health sciences are those sciences which focus on health, or health care, as core parts of their subject matter. Health sciences relate to multiple aca ...
and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an
emergency department An emergency department (ED), also known as an accident and emergency department (A&E), emergency room (ER), emergency ward (EW) or casualty department, is a medical treatment facility specializing in emergency medicine, the acute care of pat ...
to treat urgent health problems ranging from fire and accident victims to a sudden illness. A district hospital typically is the major health care facility in its region, with many beds for intensive care and additional beds for patients who need long-term care. Specialized hospitals include
trauma center A trauma center (or trauma centre) is a hospital equipped and staffed to provide care for patients suffering from major traumatic injuries such as falls, motor vehicle collisions, or gunshot wounds. A trauma center may also refer to an emerge ...
s,
rehabilitation hospital Rehabilitation hospitals, also referred to as inpatient rehabilitation hospitals, are devoted to the rehabilitation of patients with various neurological, musculoskeletal, orthopedic, and other medical conditions following stabilization of their acu ...
s,
children's hospital A children's hospital is a hospital that offers its services exclusively to infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In certain special cases, they may also treat adults. The number of children's hospitals proliferated in the 20th ce ...
s, seniors' (
geriatric Geriatrics, or geriatric medicine, is a medical specialty focused on providing care for the unique health needs of older adults. The term ''geriatrics'' originates from the Greek γέρων ''geron'' meaning "old man", and ιατρός ''iatros' ...
) hospitals, and hospitals for dealing with specific medical needs such as
psychiatric Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. See glossary of psychiatry. Initial psychi ...
treatment (see psychiatric hospital) and certain disease categories. Specialized hospitals can help reduce
health care costs Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiz ...
compared to general hospitals. Hospitals are classified as general, specialty, or government depending on the sources of income received. A teaching hospital combines assistance to people with teaching to
health science The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to health sciences: Health sciences are those sciences which focus on health, or health care, as core parts of their subject matter. Health sciences relate to multiple aca ...
students and auxiliary healthcare students. A health science facility smaller than a hospital is generally called a
clinic A clinic (or outpatient clinic or ambulatory care clinic) is a health facility that is primarily focused on the care of outpatients. Clinics can be privately operated or publicly managed and funded. They typically cover the primary care need ...
. Hospitals have a range of departments (e.g. surgery and urgent care) and specialist units such as
cardiology Cardiology () is a branch of medicine that deals with disorders of the heart and the cardiovascular system. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular hea ...
. Some hospitals have outpatient departments and some have chronic treatment units. Common support units include a pharmacy, pathology, and radiology. Hospitals are typically funded by
public funding A subsidy or government incentive is a form of financial aid or support extended to an economic sector (business, or individual) generally with the aim of promoting economic and social policy. Although commonly extended from the government, the ter ...
, health organisations ( for-profit or nonprofit), health insurance companies, or
charities A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a ch ...
, including direct charitable donations. Historically, hospitals were often founded and funded by religious orders, or by charitable individuals and leaders. Currently, hospitals are largely staffed by professional physicians, surgeons, nurses, and allied health practitioners, whereas in the past, this work was usually performed by the members of founding religious orders or by
volunteers Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...
. However, there are various Catholic religious orders, such as the
Alexians The Alexians officially named as the Congregation of Alexian Brothers ( la, Congregatio Fratrum Cellitarum seu Alexianorum) abbreviated C.F.A., is a Catholic lay religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men specifically devoted to caring ...
and the
Bon Secours Sisters The Congregation of the Sisters of Bon Secours is an international Roman Catholic women's religious congregation for nursing (''gardes malades''), whose declared mission is to care for those who are sick and dying. It was founded by Josephine Po ...
that still focus on hospital ministry in the late 1990s, as well as several other Christian denominations, including the Methodists and Lutherans, which run hospitals. In accordance with the original meaning of the word, hospitals were original "places of hospitality", and this meaning is still preserved in the names of some institutions such as the Royal Hospital Chelsea, established in 1681 as a retirement and nursing home for veteran soldiers.


Etymology

During the Middle Ages, hospitals served different functions from modern institutions in that they were
almshouses An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) was charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the medieval era. They were often targeted at the poor of a locality, at those from certain ...
for the poor, hostels for pilgrims, or
hospital school A hospital school is a school operated in a hospital, generally a children's hospital which provides instruction to all primary and secondary grade levels. These schools help children regain academic progress during periods of hospitalization or ...
s. The word "hospital" comes from the Latin , signifying a stranger or foreigner, hence a guest. Another noun derived from this, came to signify hospitality, that is the relation between guest and shelterer, hospitality, friendliness, and hospitable reception. By metonymy, the Latin word then came to mean a guest-chamber, guest's lodging, an
inn Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway; before the advent of motorized transportation they also provided accommo ...
. is thus the root for the English words ''host'' (where the ''p'' was dropped for convenience of pronunciation) '' hospitality'', '' hospice'', '' hostel,'' and '' hotel''. The latter modern word derives from Latin via the Old French romance word , which developed a silent ''s'', which letter was eventually removed from the word, the loss of which is signified by a
circumflex The circumflex () is a diacritic in the Latin and Greek scripts that is also used in the written forms of many languages and in various romanization and transcription schemes. It received its English name from la, circumflexus "bent around"a ...
in the modern French word . The
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
word shares similar roots.


Types

Some patients go to a hospital just for diagnosis, treatment, or therapy and then leave ("
outpatients A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by healthcare professionals. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, nurse, optometrist, dentist, veterinarian, or other health ca ...
") without staying overnight; while others are "admitted" and stay overnight or for several days or weeks or months (" inpatients"). Hospitals are usually distinguished from other types of medical facilities by their ability to admit and care for inpatients whilst the others, which are smaller, are often described as
clinics A clinic (or outpatient clinic or ambulatory care clinic) is a health facility that is primarily focused on the care of outpatients. Clinics can be privately operated or publicly managed and funded. They typically cover the primary care needs ...
.


General and acute care

The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, also known as an acute-care hospital. These facilities handle many kinds of disease and injury, and normally have an emergency department (sometimes known as "accident & emergency") or
trauma center A trauma center (or trauma centre) is a hospital equipped and staffed to provide care for patients suffering from major traumatic injuries such as falls, motor vehicle collisions, or gunshot wounds. A trauma center may also refer to an emerge ...
to deal with immediate and urgent threats to health. Larger cities may have several hospitals of varying sizes and facilities. Some hospitals, especially in the United States and Canada, have their own ambulance service.


District

A district hospital typically is the major health care facility in its region, with large numbers of beds for intensive care, critical care, and long-term care. In California, "district hospital" refers specifically to a class of healthcare facility created shortly after World War II to address a shortage of hospital beds in many local communities. Even today, district hospitals are the sole public hospitals in 19 of California's counties, and are the sole locally-accessible hospital within nine additional counties in which one or more other hospitals are present at a substantial distance from a local community. Twenty-eight of California's rural hospitals and 20 of its critical-access hospitals are district hospitals. They are formed by local municipalities, have boards that are individually elected by their local communities, and exist to serve local needs. They are a particularly important provider of healthcare to uninsured patients and patients with
Medi-Cal The California Medical Assistance Program (Medi-Cal or MediCal) is California's Medicaid program serving low-income individuals, including families, seniors, persons with disabilities, children in foster care, pregnant women, and childless adults w ...
(which is California's Medicaid program, serving low-income persons, some senior citizens, persons with disabilities, children in foster care, and pregnant women). In 2012, district hospitals provided $54 million in uncompensated care in California.


Specialized

A specialty hospital is primarily and exclusively dedicated to one or a few related
medical specialties A medical specialty is a branch of medical practice that is focused on a defined group of patients, diseases, skills, or philosophy. Examples include those branches of medicine that deal exclusively with children (paediatrics), cancer (oncology), ...
. Subtypes include
rehabilitation hospital Rehabilitation hospitals, also referred to as inpatient rehabilitation hospitals, are devoted to the rehabilitation of patients with various neurological, musculoskeletal, orthopedic, and other medical conditions following stabilization of their acu ...
s,
children's hospital A children's hospital is a hospital that offers its services exclusively to infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In certain special cases, they may also treat adults. The number of children's hospitals proliferated in the 20th ce ...
s, seniors' (
geriatric Geriatrics, or geriatric medicine, is a medical specialty focused on providing care for the unique health needs of older adults. The term ''geriatrics'' originates from the Greek γέρων ''geron'' meaning "old man", and ιατρός ''iatros' ...
) hospitals, long-term acute care facilities, and hospitals for dealing with specific medical needs such as
psychiatric Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. See glossary of psychiatry. Initial psychi ...
problems (see psychiatric hospital),
cancer treatment Cancer can be treated by surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hormonal therapy, targeted therapy (including immunotherapy such as monoclonal antibody therapy) and synthetic lethality, most commonly as a series of separate treatments (e.g ...
, certain disease categories such as cardiac, oncology, or orthopedic problems, and so forth. In Germany specialised hospitals are called ''Fachkrankenhaus''; an example is
Fachkrankenhaus Coswig The Fachkrankenhaus Coswig (FKC) hospital is a clinic specializing in the treatment of bronchial and pulmonary diseases. In 2018, a total of approx. 8,000 patients were treated in the FKC hospital which has 171 beds. Fachkrankenhaus Coswig Th ...
(thoracic surgery). In India, specialty hospitals are known as ''super-specialty hospitals'' and are distinguished from multispecialty hospitals which are composed of several specialties. Specialised hospitals can help reduce
health care costs Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiz ...
compared to general hospitals. For example, Narayana Health's cardiac unit in
Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...
specialises in cardiac surgery and allows for a significantly greater number of patients. It has 3,000 beds and performs 3,000 in paediatric cardiac operations annually, the largest number in the world for such a facility. Surgeons are paid on a fixed salary instead of per operation, thus when the number of procedures increases, the hospital is able to take advantage of
economies of scale In microeconomics, economies of scale are the cost advantages that enterprises obtain due to their scale of operation, and are typically measured by the amount of output produced per unit of time. A decrease in cost per unit of output enables a ...
and reduce its cost per procedure. Each specialist may also become more efficient by working on one procedure like a
production line A production line is a set of sequential operations established in a factory where components are assembled to make a finished article or where materials are put through a refining process to produce an end-product that is suitable for onward co ...
.


Teaching

A teaching hospital delivers healthcare to patients as well as training to prospective
medical professionals A health professional, healthcare professional, or healthcare worker (sometimes abbreviated HCW) is a provider of health care treatment and advice based on formal training and experience. The field includes those who work as a nurse, physician (suc ...
such as medical students and student
nurses Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health ca ...
. It may be linked to a medical school or nursing school, and may be involved in medical research. Students may also observe clinical work in the hospital.


Clinics

Clinics A clinic (or outpatient clinic or ambulatory care clinic) is a health facility that is primarily focused on the care of outpatients. Clinics can be privately operated or publicly managed and funded. They typically cover the primary care needs ...
generally provide only
outpatient A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by healthcare professionals. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, nurse, optometrist, dentist, veterinarian, or other health care ...
services, but some may have a few inpatient beds and a limited range of services that may otherwise be found in typical hospitals.


Departments or wards

A hospital contains one or more wards that house hospital beds for inpatients. It may also have acute services such as an
emergency department An emergency department (ED), also known as an accident and emergency department (A&E), emergency room (ER), emergency ward (EW) or casualty department, is a medical treatment facility specializing in emergency medicine, the acute care of pat ...
, operating theatre, and intensive care unit, as well as a range of medical specialty departments. A well-equipped hospital may be classified as a
trauma center A trauma center (or trauma centre) is a hospital equipped and staffed to provide care for patients suffering from major traumatic injuries such as falls, motor vehicle collisions, or gunshot wounds. A trauma center may also refer to an emerge ...
. They may also have other services such as a
hospital pharmacy A hospital pharmacy is a department within a hospital that prepares, compounds, stocks and dispenses inpatient medications. Hospital pharmacies usually stock a larger range of medications, including more specialized and investigational medicatio ...
, radiology, pathology, and
medical laboratories A medical laboratory or clinical laboratory is a laboratory where tests are conducted out on clinical specimens to obtain information about the health of a patient to aid in diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease. Clinical Medical labor ...
. Some hospitals have outpatient departments such as
behavioral health Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making. Mental health ...
services, dentistry, and rehabilitation services. A hospital may also have a department of nursing, headed by a
chief nursing officer Nursing management consists of the performance of the leadership functions of governance and decision-making within organizations employing nurses. It includes processes common to all management like planning, organizing, staffing, directing and ...
or director of nursing. This department is responsible for the administration of professional nursing practice, research, and policy for the hospital. Many units have both a nursing and a medical director that serve as administrators for their respective disciplines within that unit. For example, within an intensive care nursery, a medical director is responsible for physicians and medical care, while the nursing manager is responsible for all the nurses and nursing care. Support units may include a
medical records department Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practice ...
, release of information department, technical support,
clinical engineering Clinical engineering is a specialty within biomedical engineering responsible for using medical technology to optimize healthcare delivery. Clinical engineers train and supervise biomedical equipment technicians (BMETs), working with governm ...
, facilities management,
plant operations Physical plant, mechanical plant or industrial plant (and where context is given, often just plant) refers to the necessary infrastructure used in operation and maintenance of a given facility. The operation of these facilities, or the department o ...
, dining services, and security departments.


Remote monitoring

The COVID-19 pandemic stimulated the development of virtual wards across the British
NHS The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...
. Patients are managed at home, monitoring their own oxygen levels using an oxygen saturation probe if necessary and supported by telephone.
West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust runs three National Health Services hospitals: Watford General Hospital, St Albans City Hospital and Hemel Hempstead Hospital, in Hertfordshire, England. It provides "acute healthcare services t ...
managed around 1200 patients at home between March and June 2020 and planned to continue the system after COVID-19, initially for respiratory patients.
Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust runs a specialist mental health trust and provides learning disabilities, addiction management, acquired brain injury services and the provision of community nursing and therapies services in The City of Liver ...
started a COVID Oximetry@Home service in April 2020. This enables them to monitor more than 5000 patients a day in their own homes. The technology allows nurses, carers, or patients to record and monitor vital signs such as blood oxygen levels.


History


Early examples

In early India,
Fa Xian Faxian (法顯 ; 337 CE – c. 422 CE), also referred to as Fa-Hien, Fa-hsien and Sehi, was a Chinese Buddhist monk and translator who traveled by foot from China to India to acquire Buddhist texts. Starting his arduous journey about age 60, he ...
, a Chinese Buddhist monk who travelled across India c. AD 400, recorded examples of healing institutions. According to the '' Mahavamsa'', the ancient chronicle of Sinhalese royalty, written in the sixth century AD, King Pandukabhaya of Sri Lanka (r. 437–367 BC) had lying-in-homes and hospitals (Sivikasotthi-Sala). A hospital and medical training centre also existed at
Gundeshapur Gundeshapur ( pal, 𐭥𐭧𐭩𐭠𐭭𐭣𐭩𐭥𐭪𐭱𐭧𐭯𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭩, ''Weh-Andiōk-Šābuhr''; New Persian: , ''Gondēshāpūr'') was the intellectual centre of the Sassanid Empire and the home of the Academy of Gundishapur, founded ...
, a major city in southwest of the
Sassanid Persian Empire The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...
founded in AD 271 by Shapur I. In
ancient Greece Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...
, temples dedicated to the healer-god
Asclepius Asclepius (; grc-gre, Ἀσκληπιός ''Asklēpiós'' ; la, Aesculapius) is a hero and god of medicine in ancient Greek religion and mythology. He is the son of Apollo and Coronis, or Arsinoe, or of Apollo alone. Asclepius represen ...
, known as Asclepeion functioned as centres of medical advice, prognosis, and healing. The Asclepeia spread to the
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...
. While public healthcare was non-existent in the Roman Empire, military hospitals called ''valetudinaria'' did exist stationed in military barracks and would serve the soldiers and slaves within the fort.Ziegler, Tiffany A., Tiffany A. Ziegler, and Troyanos. Medieval Healthcare and the Rise of Charitable Institutions. Springer International Publishing, 2018, 33. Evidence exists that some civilian hospitals, while unavailable to the Roman population, were occasionally privately built in extremely wealthy Roman households located in the countryside for that family, although this practice seems to have ended in 80 AD.


Middle Ages

The declaration of Christianity as an accepted religion in the Roman Empire drove an expansion of the provision of care. Following the
First Council of Nicaea The First Council of Nicaea (; grc, Νίκαια ) was a council of Christian bishops convened in the Bithynian city of Nicaea (now İznik, Turkey) by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD 325. This ecumenical council was the first effort ...
in AD 325 construction of a hospital in every
cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominat ...
town was begun, including among the earliest hospitals by Saint Sampson in Constantinople and by Basil, bishop of Caesarea in modern-day Turkey. By the twelfth century, Constantinople had two well-organised hospitals, staffed by doctors who were both male and female. Facilities included systematic treatment procedures and specialised wards for various diseases. The earliest general hospital in the Islamic world was built in 805 in
Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
by
Harun Al-Rashid Abu Ja'far Harun ibn Muhammad al-Mahdi ( ar , أبو جعفر هارون ابن محمد المهدي) or Harun ibn al-Mahdi (; or 766 – 24 March 809), famously known as Harun al-Rashid ( ar, هَارُون الرَشِيد, translit=Hārūn ...
. By the 10th century, Baghdad had five more hospitals, while Damascus had six hospitals by the 15th century, and Córdoba alone had 50 major hospitals , many exclusively for the military. The Islamic ''
bimaristan A bimaristan (; ), also known as ''dar al-shifa'' (also ''darüşşifa'' in Turkish) or simply maristan, is a hospital in the historic Islamic world. Etymology ''Bimaristan'' is a Persian word ( ''bīmārestān'') meaning "hospital", with ''b ...
'' served as a center of medical treatment, as well nursing home and lunatic asylum. It typically treated the poor, as the rich would have been treated in their own homes.Islamic Culture and the Medical Arts: Hospitals
United States National Library of Medicine The United States National Library of Medicine (NLM), operated by the United States federal government, is the world's largest medical library. Located in Bethesda, Maryland, the NLM is an institute within the National Institutes of Health. Its ...
Hospitals in this era were the first to require medical diplomas to license doctors, and compensation for negligence could be made. Hospitals were forbidden by law to turn away patients who were unable to pay. These hospitals were financially supported by
waqf A waqf ( ar, وَقْف; ), also known as hubous () or '' mortmain'' property is an inalienable charitable endowment under Islamic law. It typically involves donating a building, plot of land or other assets for Muslim religious or charitabl ...
s, as well as state funds.


Early modern and Enlightenment Europe

In Europe the medieval concept of Christian care evolved during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries into a secular one. In England, after the dissolution of the monasteries in 1540 by King Henry VIII, the church abruptly ceased to be the supporter of hospitals, and only by direct petition from the citizens of London, were the hospitals St Bartholomew's, St Thomas's and St Mary of Bethlehem's (Bedlam) endowed directly by the crown; this was the first instance of secular support being provided for medical institutions. The
voluntary hospital Voluntary hospitals were created from the eighteenth century in England. In America, Ireland, and Australia, voluntary hospitals were established later. They can be distinguished from municipal hospitals, which were publicly owned, and private ho ...
movement began in the early 18th century, with hospitals being founded in London by the 1720s, including
Westminster Hospital Westminster Hospital was a hospital in London, England, founded in 1719. In 1834 a medical school attached to the hospital was formally founded. In 1939 a newly built hospital and medical school opened in Horseferry Road, Westminster. In 1994 th ...
(1719) promoted by the
private bank Private banks are banks owned by either the individual or a general Partner (business rank), partner(s) with limited partner(s). Private banks are not incorporation (business), incorporated. In any such case, creditors can look to both the "enti ...
C. Hoare & Co and
Guy's Hospital Guy's Hospital is an NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in central London. It is part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and one of the institutions that comprise the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. ...
(1724) funded from the bequest of the wealthy merchant, Thomas Guy. Other hospitals sprang up in London and other British cities over the century, many paid for by private subscriptions. St Bartholomew's in London was rebuilt from 1730 to 1759, and the London Hospital, Whitechapel, opened in 1752. These hospitals represented a turning point in the function of the institution; they began to evolve from being basic places of care for the sick to becoming centres of medical innovation and discovery and the principal place for the education and training of prospective practitioners. Some of the era's greatest surgeons and doctors worked and passed on their knowledge at the hospitals. They also changed from being mere homes of refuge to being complex institutions for the provision of medicine and care for sick. The
Charité The Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Charité – Berlin University of Medicine) is one of Europe's largest university hospitals, affiliated with Humboldt University and Free University Berlin. With numerous Collaborative Research Cen ...
was founded in Berlin in 1710 by King Frederick I of Prussia as a response to an outbreak of plague. The concept of voluntary hospitals also spread to
Colonial America The colonial history of the United States covers the history of European colonization of North America from the early 17th century until the incorporation of the Thirteen Colonies into the United States after the Revolutionary War. In the ...
; the
Bellevue Hospital Bellevue Hospital (officially NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue and formerly known as Bellevue Hospital Center) is a hospital in New York City and the oldest public hospital in the United States. One of the largest hospitals in the United States ...
opened in 1736 (as a workhouse, then later becoming a hospital); the Pennsylvania Hospital opened in 1752,
New York Hospital Weill Cornell Medical Center (previously known as New York Hospital or Old New York Hospital or City Hospital) is a research hospital in New York City. It is part of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and the teaching hospital for Cornell University. ...
(now Weill Cornell Medical Center) in 1771, and Massachusetts General Hospital in 1811. When the
Vienna General Hospital The Vienna General Hospital (german: Allgemeines Krankenhaus der Stadt Wien), usually abbreviated to AKH, is the general hospital of the city of Vienna, Austria. It is also the city's university hospital, and the site of the Medical Unive ...
opened in 1784 (instantly becoming the world's largest hospital), physicians acquired a new facility that gradually developed into one of the most important research centres. Another Enlightenment era charitable innovation was the dispensary; these would issue the poor with medicines free of charge. The London Dispensary opened its doors in 1696 as the first such clinic in the
British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
. The idea was slow to catch on until the 1770s, when many such organisations began to appear, including the Public Dispensary of Edinburgh (1776), the Metropolitan Dispensary and Charitable Fund (1779) and the
Finsbury Dispensary The Finsbury Dispensary, more fully the Finsbury Dispensary for Administering Advice and Medicines to the Poor, was a charitable dispensary giving medical treatment to poor people in Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London. It was founded in ...
(1780). Dispensaries were also opened in New York 1771, Philadelphia 1786, and Boston 1796. The Royal Naval Hospital, Stonehouse, Plymouth, was a pioneer of hospital design in having "pavilions" to minimize the spread of infection.
John Wesley John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English cleric Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching ...
visited in 1785, and commented "I never saw anything of the kind so complete; every part is so convenient, and so admirably neat. But there is nothing superfluous, and nothing purely ornamented, either within or without." This revolutionary design was made more widely known by John Howard, the philanthropist. In 1787 the French government sent two scholar administrators, Coulomb and Tenon, who had visited most of the hospitals in Europe. They were impressed and the "pavilion" design was copied in France and throughout Europe.


19th century

English physician Thomas Percival (1740–1804) wrote a comprehensive system of medical conduct, '' Medical Ethics; or, a Code of Institutes and Precepts, Adapted to the Professional Conduct of Physicians and Surgeons'' (1803) that set the standard for many textbooks. In the mid-19th century, hospitals and the medical profession became more professionalised, with a reorganisation of hospital management along more bureaucratic and administrative lines. The
Apothecaries Act 1815 The Apothecaries Act 1815 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (citation 55 Geo.lll, c.194) with the long title "An Act for better regulating the Practice of Apothecaries throughout England and Wales". The Act introduced compulsory ...
made it compulsory for medical students to practise for at least half a year at a hospital as part of their training. Florence Nightingale pioneered the modern profession of nursing during the
Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...
when she set an example of compassion, commitment to patient care and diligent and thoughtful hospital administration. The first official nurses' training programme, the Nightingale School for Nurses, was opened in 1860, with the mission of training nurses to work in hospitals, to work with the poor and to teach. Nightingale was instrumental in reforming the nature of the hospital, by improving sanitation standards and changing the image of the hospital from a place the sick would go to die, to an institution devoted to recuperation and healing. She also emphasised the importance of statistical measurement for determining the success rate of a given intervention and pushed for administrative reform at hospitals. By the late 19th century, the modern hospital was beginning to take shape with a proliferation of a variety of public and private hospital systems. By the 1870s, hospitals had more than trebled their original average intake of 3,000 patients. In continental Europe the new hospitals generally were built and run from public funds. The National Health Service, the principal provider of health care in the United Kingdom, was founded in 1948. During the nineteenth century, the Second Viennese Medical School emerged with the contributions of physicians such as
Carl Freiherr von Rokitansky Baron Carl von Rokitansky (german: Carl Freiherr von Rokitansky, cs, Karel Rokytanský; 19 February 1804 – 23 July 1878) was a Bohemian physician, pathologist, humanist philosopher and liberal politician, founder of the Viennese School of Medi ...
, Josef Škoda,
Ferdinand Ritter von Hebra Ferdinand Karl Franz Schwarzmann, Ritter von Hebra (7 September 1816, in Brno, Moravia – 5 August 1880 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary) was an Austrian physician and dermatologist known as the founder of the New Vienna School of Dermatology, an ...
, and
Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis (; hu, Semmelweis Ignác Fülöp ; 1 July 1818 – 13 August 1865) was a Hungarian physician and scientist, who was an early pioneer of antiseptic procedures. Described as the "saviour of mothers", he discovered that t ...
. Basic medical science expanded and specialisation advanced. Furthermore, the first dermatology, eye, as well as ear, nose, and throat clinics in the world were founded in Vienna, being considered as the birth of specialised medicine.


20th century and beyond

By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, medical advancements such as
anesthesia Anesthesia is a state of controlled, temporary loss of sensation or awareness that is induced for medical or veterinary purposes. It may include some or all of analgesia (relief from or prevention of pain), paralysis (muscle relaxation), a ...
and sterile techniques that could make surgery less risky, and the availability of more advanced diagnostic devices such as
X-rays An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10  picometers to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30  ...
, continued to make hospitals a more attractive option for treatment. Modern hospitals measure various efficiency metrics such as occupancy rates, the average length of stay, time to service, patient satisfaction, physician performance, patient readmission rate, inpatient mortality rate, and
case mix index Case mix index (CMI) within health care and medicine, is a relative value assigned to a diagnosis-related group of patients in a medical care environment. The CMI value is used in determining the allocation of resources to care for and/or treat the ...
. In the United States, the number of hospitalizations continued to grow and reached its peak in 1981 with 171 admissions per 1,000 Americans and 6,933 hospitals. This trend subsequently reversed, with the rate of hospitalization falling by more than 10% and the number of US hospitals shrinking from 6,933 in 1981 to 5,534 in 2016. Occupancy rates also dropped from 77% in 1980 to 60% in 2013. Among the reasons for this are the increasing availability of more complex care elsewhere such as at home or the physicians' offices and also the less therapeutic and more life-threatening image of the hospitals in the eyes of the public.https://www.cdc.gov/hai/pdfs/hai/infections_deaths.pdf In the US, a patient may sleep in a hospital bed, but be considered outpatient and "under observation" if not formally admitted. In the US, inpatient stays are covered under Medicare Part A, but a hospital might keep a patient under observation which is only covered under Medicare Part B, and subjects the patient to additional coinsurance costs. In 2013, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) introduced a "two-midnight" rule for inpatient admissions, intended to reduce an increasing number of long-term "observation" stays being used for reimbursement. This rule was later dropped in 2018. In 2016 and 2017, healthcare reform and a continued decline in admissions resulted in US hospital-based healthcare systems performing poorly financially. Microhospitals, with bed capacities of between eight and fifty, are expanding in the United States. Similarly, freestanding emergency rooms, which transfer patients that require inpatient care to hospitals, were popularised in the 1970s and have since expanded rapidly across the United States.


Funding

Modern hospitals derive funding from a variety of sources. They may be funded by private payment and health insurance or public expenditure,
charitable donation The practice of charity is the voluntary giving of help to those in need, as a humanitarian act, unmotivated by self-interest. There are a number of philosophies about charity, often associated with religion. Etymology The word ''charity'' or ...
s. In the United Kingdom, the National Health Service delivers health care to legal residents funded by the state "free at the point of delivery", and emergency care free to anyone regardless of nationality or status. Due to the need for hospitals to prioritise their limited resources, there is a tendency in countries with such systems for 'waiting lists' for non-crucial treatment, so those who can afford it may take out private health care to access treatment more quickly. In the United States, hospitals typically operate privately and in some cases on a for-profit basis, such as HCA Healthcare. The list of procedures and their prices are billed with a
chargemaster In the United States, the chargemaster, also known as charge master, or charge description master (CDM), is a comprehensive listing of items billable to a hospital patient or a patient's health insurance provider. In practice, it usually contains ...
; however, these prices may be lower for health care obtained within healthcare networks. Legislation requires hospitals to provide care to patients in life-threatening emergency situations regardless of the patient's ability to pay. Privately funded hospitals which admit uninsured patients in emergency situations incur direct financial losses, such as in the aftermath of
Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cos ...
.
Hospitals in New Orleans see surge in uninsured patients but not public funds
' – '' USA Today'', Wednesday 26 April 2006


Quality and safety

As the quality of health care has increasingly become an issue around the world, hospitals have increasingly had to pay serious attention to this matter. Independent external assessment of quality is one of the most powerful ways to assess this aspect of health care, and hospital accreditation is one means by which this is achieved. In many parts of the world such accreditation is sourced from other countries, a phenomenon known as international healthcare accreditation, by groups such as Accreditation Canada from Canada, the Joint Commission from the US, the Trent Accreditation Scheme from Great Britain, and the '' Haute Autorité de santé'' (HAS) from France. In England hospitals are monitored by the
Care Quality Commission The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care of the United Kingdom. It was established in 2009 to regulate and inspect health and social care services in England. It ...
. In 2020 they turned their attention to
hospital food Food in UK hospitals has been the subject of attention from celebrity chefs. James Martin was tasked with revamping the menu and catering facilities at Scarborough General Hospital in September 2011, for ''Operation Hospital Food'' for the BBC. ...
standards after seven patient deaths from listeria linked to pre-packaged sandwiches and salads in 2019, saying "Nutrition and hydration is part of a patient’s recovery." The World Health Organization noted in 2011 that going into hospital was far riskier than flying. Globally the chance of a patient being subject to an error was about 10% and the chance of death resulting from an error was about 1 in 300 according to Liam Donaldson. 7% of hospitalised patients in developed countries, and 10% in developing countries, acquire at least one health care-associated infection. In the USA 1.7 million infections are acquired in hospital each year, leading to 100,000 deaths, figures much worse than in Europe where there were 4.5 million infections and 37,000 deaths.


Architecture

Modern hospital buildings are designed to minimise the effort of medical personnel and the possibility of contamination while maximising the efficiency of the whole system. Travel time for personnel within the hospital and the transportation of patients between units is facilitated and minimised. The building also should be built to accommodate heavy departments such as radiology and operating rooms while space for special wiring, plumbing, and waste disposal must be allowed for in the design. However, many hospitals, even those considered "modern", are the product of continual and often badly managed growth over decades or even centuries, with utilitarian new sections added on as needs and finances dictate. As a result, Dutch architectural historian Cor Wagenaar has called many hospitals: :''"... built catastrophes, anonymous institutional complexes run by vast bureaucracies, and totally unfit for the purpose they have been designed for ... They are hardly ever functional, and instead of making patients feel at home, they produce stress and anxiety."
Healing by design
'' – ''Ode Magazine'', July/August 2006 issue. Accessed 10 February 2008.
Some newer hospitals now try to re-establish design that takes the patient's psychological needs into account, such as providing more fresh air, better views and more pleasant colour schemes. These ideas harken back to the late eighteenth century, when the concept of providing fresh air and access to the 'healing powers of nature' were first employed by hospital architects in improving their buildings. The research of
British Medical Association The British Medical Association (BMA) is a registered trade union for doctors in the United Kingdom. The association does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The association's headquar ...
is showing that good hospital design can reduce patient's recovery time. Exposure to daylight is effective in reducing depression. Single-sex accommodation help ensure that patients are treated in privacy and with dignity. Exposure to nature and hospital gardens is also important – looking out windows improves patients' moods and reduces blood pressure and stress level. Open windows in patient rooms have also demonstrated some evidence of beneficial outcomes by improving airflow and increased microbial diversity. Eliminating long corridors can reduce nurses' fatigue and stress. Another ongoing major development is the change from a ward-based system (where patients are accommodated in communal rooms, separated by movable partitions) to one in which they are accommodated in individual rooms. The ward-based system has been described as very efficient, especially for the medical staff, but is considered to be more stressful for patients and detrimental to their privacy. A major constraint on providing all patients with their own rooms is however found in the higher cost of building and operating such a hospital; this causes some hospitals to charge for private rooms.
Health administrators go shopping for new hospital designs
'' – ''
National Review of Medicine National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...
'', Monday 15 November 2004, Volume 1 No. 21
File:Hinduja Hospital, Mahim, Mumbai.jpg, Hinduja National Hospital, Mumbai File:Intensivstation (01) 2007-03-03.jpg, An intensive care unit (ICU) within a hospital File:KlinikumAachen.jpg,
Uniklinikum Aachen The Uniklinikum Aachen, full German name ''Universitätsklinikum Aachen'' ("University Hospital Aachen", abbreviated ''UKA''), formerly known as ''Neues Klinikum'' ("New Clinic"), is the university hospital of the city of Aachen, German ...
in Germany File:TAYS,TAMPERE 1.12-09 aamulla n.klo 8 - panoramio.jpg,
Tampere University Hospital Tampere University Hospital ( fi, Tampereen yliopistollinen sairaala, TAYS, sv, Tammerfors universitetssjukhus) is a teaching hospital of Tampere University along Teiskontie at the Kauppi district in Tampere, Finland. It serves as one of the ma ...
in Tampere, Finland File:AIIMS central lawn.jpg, All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi, India File:Lehigh-Valley-Hospital.x.jpg, Lehigh Valley Hospital–Cedar Crest in
Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The city has a population of 125,845 as of the 2020 census. It is the fastest-growing major city in Pennsylvania an ...


See also

*
Burn center A burn center, burn unit, or burns unit is a hospital specializing in the treatment of burns. Burn centers are often used for the treatment and recovery of patients with more severe burns. Overview The severity of a burn, and therefore whether ...
* History of hospitals *
History of medicine The history of medicine is both a study of medicine throughout history as well as a multidisciplinary field of study that seeks to explore and understand medical practices, both past and present, throughout human societies. More than just histo ...
*
Hospital network A hospital network is a public, non-profit or for-profit company or organization that provides two or more hospitals and other broad healthcare facilities and services. A hospital network may include hospitals in one or more regions within one o ...
*
Lists of hospitals These are links to lists of hospitals around the world. According to Cybermetrics Lab, they completed their rankings from over 16,500 hospitals worldwide in 2015. By continent * Lists of hospitals in Africa * Lists of hospitals in Asia * Lists o ...
*
Hospital information system A hospital information system (HIS) is an element of health informatics that focuses mainly on the administrational needs of hospitals. In many implementations, a HIS is a comprehensive, integrated information system designed to manage all the asp ...
*
Trauma center A trauma center (or trauma centre) is a hospital equipped and staffed to provide care for patients suffering from major traumatic injuries such as falls, motor vehicle collisions, or gunshot wounds. A trauma center may also refer to an emerge ...
* The Waiting Room * Hospice *
Walk-in clinic A walk-in clinic (also known as a walk-in centre) is a medical facility that accepts patients on a walk-in basis and with no appointment required. A number of healthcare service providers fall under the walk-in clinic umbrella including urgent ...


Notes


References

* *


Bibliography


History of hospitals

* Brockliss, Lawrence, and Colin Jones. "The Hospital in the Enlightenment," in ''The Medical World of Early Modern France'' (Oxford UP, 1997), pp. 671–729; covers France 1650–1800 * Chaney, Edward (2000),"'Philanthropy in Italy': English Observations on Italian Hospitals 1545–1789", in: ''The Evolution of the Grand Tour: Anglo-Italian Cultural Relations since the Renaissance'', 2nd ed. London, Routledge, 2000. https://books.google.com/books/about/The_evolution_of_the_grand_tour.html?id=rYB_HYPsa8gC * Connor, J.T.H. "Hospital History in Canada and the United States," ''Canadian Bulletin of Medical History'', 1990, Vol. 7 Issue 1, pp. 93–104 * Crawford, D.S
Bibliography of Histories of Canadian hospitals and schools of nursing
* Gorsky, Martin. "The British National Health Service 1948–2008: A Review of the Historiography," ''Social History of Medicine'', December 2008, Vol. 21 Issue 3, pp. 437–60 * Harrison, Mar, et al. eds. ''From Western Medicine to Global Medicine: The Hospital Beyond the West'' (2008) * Horden, Peregrine. ''Hospitals and Healing From Antiquity to the Later Middle Ages'' (2008) * McGrew, Roderick E. ''Encyclopedia of Medical History'' (1985) * * Porter, Roy. ''The Hospital in History'', with Lindsay Patricia Granshaw (1989) * Risse, Guenter B. ''Mending Bodies, Saving Souls: A History of Hospitals'' (1999); world coverage * Rosenberg, Charles E. ''The Care of Strangers: The Rise of America's Hospital System'' (1995); history to 1920 * Scheutz, Martin et al. eds. ''Hospitals and Institutional Care in Medieval and Early Modern Europe'' (2009) * Wall, Barbra Mann. ''American Catholic Hospitals: A Century of Changing Markets and Missions'' (Rutgers University Press, 2011).


External links

* WHO Hospitals https://www.who.int/hospitals/en/ * * * {{cite web, url= https://ayurvedakidneydoctor.wordpress.com/2022/11/01/karma-ayurveda-kidney-specialist-negetive-reviews-dr-puneet-dhawan-patient-bunty-rana-review, title= karma ayurveda hospital, website= ayurvedakidneydoctor.wordpress
.com The domain name .com is a top-level domain (TLD) in the Domain Name System (DNS) of the Internet. Added at the beginning of 1985, its name is derived from the word ''commercial'', indicating its original intended purpose for domains registere ...
, language= en