Hospital

A old hospital in France

Cincinnati Children's Hospital

Raffles Hospital, Parkview Square and Andaz Hotel buildings in Singapore

A hospital is a place where a person goes to be healed when they are sick or injured.^[1] The difference between a hospital and other healthcare places like a clinic or a doctor's office is that a hospital will have beds where patients can stay overnight. These patients are called inpatients. The goal of inpatient treatment is to provide 24-7 medical stabilization, which is why this type of treatment has more of a hospital-like feel since patients are monitored by doctors, nurses, therapists, and social workers. Treatment is structured and has a schedule that can include individual therapy, group therapy, case management, and support groups.^[2]

Hospitals also treat people who do not stay overnight, called outpatients. Doctors and nurses work at hospitals. Doctors make use of advanced medical technology to heal patients.

Patients who are staying at the hospital will always be under the care of doctors and nurses who are always available for taking care of the injured or sick patients. Hospitals always have the tools and machines needed for treating the patients.

The word hospital originally meant "a place where people can stay". There have been hospitals for sick people since ancient times. They were often created and run by religious groups. In the early modern period, hospitals began to be funded by donations from rich people and by governments. Today, hospitals might get money from the government, from charging patients for treatments and check-ups, from patients' health insurance, from people giving to charity or a mixture of those things.

Hospital Media

The exterior of Bellvitge University Hospital in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain, with entrance and parking area for ambulances.
Starship Children's Health, a children's hospital in Auckland, New Zealand
McMaster University Medical Centre, a teaching hospital in Hamilton, Ontario
All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, a large teaching hospital in India
Entrance to the Qalawun complex in Cairo, Egypt, which housed the notable Mansuri hospital
A hospital ward in 6th century France
1820 engraving of Guy's Hospital in London, one of the first voluntary hospitals to be established in 1724
Ruins of the Hospital San Nicolás de Bari in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, recognized by UNESCO for being the oldest hospital built in the Americas. Built between 1514 and 1541.
A ward of the hospital at Scutari, where Florence Nightingale worked and helped to restructure the modern hospital