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HOSPITAL INTRODUCTION
• False claim-The word “hospital” is acronym for “house of sick people in trauma and labour”
• The English word “hospital” originally comes from the Latin noun “hospes”, which stands for “a
guest or visitor” and “one who provides lodging or entertainment for a guest or visitor”. This Latin
noun is also the origin of other English words like hostel, hotel, and hospice
• The National Library of Medicine (NLM) attributes the hospital as “one of the great achievements of
medieval Islamic society” . According to the NLM, the earliest documented general hospital was built
in Baghdad in the 9th century.
• The first hospital to treat medical conditions in the U.S. was the Pennsylvania Hospital, founded in
1751 by Benjamin Franklin and Dr. Thomas Bond.
➢ Definition of Hospital
• WHO Expert Committee, 1963:
‘A hospital is a residential establishment which provides short-term and long-term medical care
consisting of observational, diagnostic, therapeutic and rehabilitative services for persons suffering
or suspected to be suffering from a disease or injury and for parturients. It may or may not also
provide services for ambulatory patients on an out-patient basis’.
Or
• WHO expert committee, 1956:
‘The hospital is an integral part of a social and medical organization, the function of which is to
provide for the population complete healthcare, both curative and preventive, and whose out-
patient services reach out to the family in its home environment; the hospital is also a centre for the
training of health workers and for bio- social research’.
➢ Classification of Hospital
1. Basing on Objective
i) General hospitals-
ii) Special hospitals
iii) Teaching cum Research Hospital
2. Basing on Administration, ownership, control or financial income
i) Governmental or public
ii) Non-governmental or private
iii) Semi Govt Hospital- Hospitals run both by the govt and private entity. eg Cantt Board
Hospital
iv) Corporate hospital- Corporate Hospital Hospitals which are public limited companies
formed under the companies act. Run on commercial lines. eg, Apollo
v) Voluntary Agency Hospitals - Not for profit hospitals by the Voluntary Organizations. eg,
HOPE Foundation Fistula Hospital
3. Basing on Length of Stay
i) Short-term or short-stay hospitals (Stay less than 30 days)
ii) Long-term or long-stay hospitals: (Stay more than 30 days)
4. Depending on Type of Medical Staff
i) Closed-staff hospital: A hospital in which only physicians who are members of the
attending and consulting staff may admit and treat patients.
ii) Open-staff hospital: a hospital where all physicians, not only members of the regular staff,
are permitted to send their patients and control their treatment; extremely rare, because
most hospitals limit physician access in some measure.
5. Basing on bed capacity (Size)
i) Small hospital (Upto 100 beds)
ii) Medium hospital (More than 100 to less than 300 beds)
iii) Large hospital (More than 300 beds)
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6. Basing on type of care:
i) Primary Care- Primary Care Hospital Primary care is the day-to-day healthcare given by a
health care provider
ii) Secondary Care -this level has some specialist services, ex- general surgery, obstetrics
and gynaecology
iii) Tertiary Care- this level has highly specialised service ex-cancer hospital
7. By teaching affiliation:
i) Teaching hospital
ii) Non-teaching hospital
8. Basing on system of medicine
i) Allopathic hospital
ii) Ayurvedic hospital
iii) Homeopathic hospital
iv) Unani hospital
v) Hospitals of other system of medicine
9. As per WHO Classification:
i) Regional Hospital- ex-Govt. medical college hospital
ii) Intermediate/ District Hospital
iii) Rural Hospital
➢ Hospital Function
1. Intramural: Services within the wall of hospital.
a. Care of sick and injured
b. Prevention of disease
c. Promotion of health
d. Diagnosis and treatment of disease
e. Scientific application of mental hygiene and mental tharapy
f. Rehabilitation
g. Medical education
h. Research
2. Extramural: Services outside the wall of hospital. eg, OPD, Outreach services, Medical Camps,
Immunization Program
➢ Organisational structure of hospital
