The hospital theory
General hospitals h&le most medical problems. Teaching hospitals are connected to medical schools & help to train doctors. Special hospitals focus on certain diseases, such as cancer. Others care for specific groups of people—for example, veterans, women, children, the elderly, or patients with mental illnesses.
Nonprofit groups, including religious organizations & universities, own most hospitals in the United States & Canada. Those groups do not keep any profit, or money earned by the hospital. Some U.S. hospitals are owned by companies that do try to earn a profit. Governments own & run most hospitals in the rest of the world.When people need to be treated for a serious illness or injury, they usually go to a place called a hospital. People who need operations & women ready to have babies also go to hospitals. Patients may stay in a hospital for a few hours or for many days. A hospital building always has medical equipment & beds for its patients. Doctors, nurses, & other medical workers care for the patients in hospitals.Throughout most of human history family members cared for each other when they were sick. Eventually people set aside places for treating the ill. In the 5th century BC Hindus in what is now Sri Lanka established the first known hospitals. The ancient Romans also treated patients in early hospitals. Christians created many hospitals in Europe during the Middle Ages.
Beginning in the 16th century European explorers brought the idea of hospitals to North America. In 1751 colonists founded Pennsylvania Hospital, the first medical hospital in what is now the United States. Like many early hospitals, it treated mainly poor people.
As the science of medicine progressed, more middle-class & wealthy people went to hospitals for help. Today most people in developed countries are born in a hospital, & many die in one. (See also medicine.)
Most hospitals contain several departments, or areas for specific purposes. Many patients enter the hospital at the emergency room, which h&les sudden illnesses & injuries. If patients need longer care, they will stay in a bed in a different area of the building. Patients with breathing problems or bad burns, for example, go to the intensive care unit. For surgery, patients go to an operating room. Women having babies go to the labor & delivery department. Sick children often go to the pediatric department.
Doctors supervise the care of patients in all departments. They perform surgery & use special medical equipment. Nurses & other medical workers follow doctors' instructions. They watch over patients & make them comfortable.
Other departments in a hospital do not directly care for patients. The radiology department takes X rays. The laboratory does medical tests. The pharmacy prepares medicines.
