A hospital is a health care institution that provides medical and surgical treatment, primarily for those with severe or life-threatening illnesses and injuries. It may also provide mental health services and long-term rehabilitation for those with chronic, disabling conditions. In addition, many hospitals provide community health services, such as immunizations and screenings for certain diseases.
There are over 5,000 hospitals in the United States ranging from general community hospitals, to teaching hospitals with research and training programs, to federal hospitals for military and veterans, to mental health and long-term rehabilitative hospitals. Most are privately owned, but some are operated by religious and educational groups or are public organizations run by governments.
Some hospitals are specialized, focused on treating specific types of illness or injury. These hospitals have staff, equipment, and facilities designed to meet the needs of the patients they serve. They include cancer hospitals, heart hospitals, orthopedic and surgery centers, children’s hospitals, burn recovery units, psychiatric hospitals, geriatric care hospitals and women’s health clinics. There are also hospitals dedicated to serving the specific needs of various patient categories such as low-income, elderly or disabled.
Most of the time, a hospital will be a quiet place with a lot of people working hard to make you healthy again. But it can be stressful and confusing, especially if you’re there for an extended period of time. The best way to stay happy and healthy while you’re in the hospital is to follow doctors’ orders and take your medicine. Also, try to move around as much as possible to avoid bed sores and blood clots. It’s important to bring books, magazines and any health-related information you have with you. It’s a good idea to bring copies of any legal documents that specify who can make decisions for you if you become unable to do so.
During the early modern period, hospitals were often located in monasteries or convents, and were established to help the poor and sick. As medicine improved, hospitals became increasingly devoted to treating disease, and they grew larger. Napoleon built hospitals to treat wounded soldiers during his wars, and these later spread across Europe. Hospitals were eventually transformed into secular spaces.
Some hospitals are under fire for alleged abuses against their patients. In 2022, for instance, a nursing home company called Acadia was accused of pressuring its workers to label patients whose insurance was about to run out as uncooperative in order to keep them at the hospital. The workers said that they were also pressured to write false statements in patients’ medical charts to justify continuing their stays, and that managers would often criticize them for things like not finishing a meal or skipping group therapy sessions. Those accusations led to lawsuits against the company.