What is the origin of the word hospital?
The same word, contracted, is hostel and hotel. The sense shift in Latin from duties to buildings might have been via the common term cubiculum hospitalis "guest-chamber." The Latin adjective use continued in Old French, where ospital also could mean "hospitable" and ospitalite could mean "hospital."
What is the oldest hospital in the world?
The oldest was the Immaculate Conception, now the Hospital de Jesús Nazareno in Mexico City, founded in 1524 to care for the poor. In Quebec, Catholics operated hospitals continuously from the 1640s; they attracted nuns from the provincial elite.
When did hospitals first appear?
The first clear archaeological evidence of such hospitals first appears in the eighth and ninth centuries AD. Nevertheless, it would be inaccurate to portray the period as a time where a system of hospitals had existed.
Is the word ‘hospital’ an acronym for ‘House of sick people’?
The word "hospital" is an acronym for "house of sick people including treatment and labour." On December 17 2018, a Facebook page shared the following meme purporting to reveal the surprising etymology of the word “hospital”:
Who created the first hospital?
The earliest general hospital was built in 805 AD in Baghdad by Harun Al-Rashid.
What is the first hospital in the world?
The earliest documented general hospital was built in 805 in Baghdad. The earliest documented general hospital was built about a century later, in 805, in Baghdad, by the vizier to the caliph Harun al-Rashid.
What is hospital abbreviation for?
HOSPITAL. Home Of Sick People In Treatment And Life. Medical.
What was the original purpose for hospitals?
Hospitals in the United States emerged from institutions, notably almshouses, that provided care and custody for the ailing poor.
How did hospital get its name?
The formative source of hospital, hostel, and hotel is Latin hospitale, a word referring to a house or lodging for travelers that is a derivative of the adjective hospitalis ("of a guest," "hospitable"), which developed from hospes.
What were hospitals called in medieval times?
In the Middle Ages there were very broadly four types of hospital: for lepers; for poor (and sick) pilgrims; for the poor and infirm; and almshouses or bedehouses.
What does OTF mean in hospital?
outpatient treatment file. Healthcare, Treatment, Health.
What does 02 mean in medical terms?
oxygenO. 2. Symbol for the molecular formula for oxygen.
What does r/t mean in nursing?
Overview. A respiratory therapist (RT) is a certified medical professional who specializes in providing healthcare for your lungs. They have advanced knowledge of high-tech equipment, such as mechanical ventilators.
Did Romans have hospitals?
Hospitals: Ancient Romans were responsible for setting up the first hospitals, which they initially designed to treat soldiers and veterans. Water supply: The Romans were superb engineers, and they built several aqueducts throughout their Empire to supply people with water.
Who was the first doctor in the world?
The first physician to emerge is Imhotep, chief minister to King Djoser in the 3rd millennium bce, who designed one of the earliest pyramids, the Step Pyramid at Ṣaqqārah, and who was later regarded as the Egyptian god of medicine and identified with the Greek god Asclepius.
What are the 4 types of hospitals?
Types of Hospitals in the United StatesCommunity Hospitals (Nonfederal Acute Care)Federal Government Hospitals.Nonfederal Psychiatric Care.Nonfederal Long-term Care.
Where does the word "hospital" come from?
The word "hospital" comes from the Latin hospes, signifying a stranger or foreigner, hence a guest. Another noun derived from this, hospitium came to signify hospitality, that is the relation between guest and shelterer, hospitality, friendliness, and hospitable reception.
What is a hospital?
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized medical and nursing staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emergency department to treat urgent health problems ranging from fire and accident victims to a sudden illness.
What is a specialized hospital?
Specialized hospitals can help reduce health care costs 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 medical students and nurses.
How are hospitals funded?
Hospitals are typically funded by public funding, health organisations ( for profit or nonprofit ), health insurance companies, or charities, including direct charitable donations. Historically, hospitals were often founded and funded by religious orders, or by charitable individuals and leaders.
What is the symbol for a hospital?
During times of armed conflict, a hospital may be marked with the emblem of the red cross, red crescent or red crystal in accordance with the Geneva Conventions.
What is the original meaning of hospitals?
In accordance with the original meaning of the word, hospitals were originally "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.
What is a medical facility called?
A medical facility smaller than a hospital is generally called a clinic. Hospitals have a range of departments (e.g. surgery and urgent care) and specialist units such as cardiology. Some hospitals have outpatient departments and some have chronic treatment units.
Examples of hospital in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web Deep-pocketed hospital systems increasingly are turning to solo expansion to gain a bigger share of the market. — Harris Meyer, Fortune, 27 Jan. 2022 In recent years, Indiana hospital systems here have brought up many local physician practices, further solidifying their grip on the market, Hicks said.
History and Etymology for hospital
Middle English hospital, ospitale "residence for pilgrims and travelers, charitable institution providing residence for the poor and infirm," borrowed from Anglo-French, borrowed from Medieval Latin hospitāle, going back to Latin, in plural hospitālia "guest accommodations" (probably by ellipsis from hospitāle cubiculum "sleeping room for guests"), noun derivative from neuter of hospitālis "of a guest, of hospitality, hospitable," from hospit-, hospes "guest, host" + -ālis -al entry 1 — more at host entry 3.
What does "hospital" mean in English?
The English words hospital, hostel, hotel, and hospice are all etymologically related to the Latin noun hospes —a word having the diametric meanings "a guest or visitor" and "one who provides lodging or entertainment for a guest or visitor.". ( Host meaning "one who entertains guests" is also related.) The words all passed through and were altered ...
What is the French word for "hospital"?
For readers acquainted with the French term hôtel-dieu: that phrase is a fossil from the Middle Ages, meaning literally "hotel of God" but used for "hospital," that is preserved in the names of venerable hospitals in France; the modern French word for "hospital" is hôpital.
What was the name of the hospital that the citizens founded for all kinds of birds?
That use of the word was transferred to a facility for the treatment of animals roughly two centuries later: The publike Hospitall, which the Citizens ... had founded for all kindes of Birds, to cure them in their sicknesse. — Samuel Purchas, Pilgrimage, 1613.
When did hostels become common?
The word was common from the 14th century to the late-16th century, but thereafter inexplicably fell into disuse; it was revived in the early 19th century. Prior to the hiatus of the "lodging" sense of hostel, the word became a term in British English for student housing at a university or other educational institution.
What does "hospital" mean?
The word "hospital" is an acronym for "house of sick people including treatment and labour.".
What is the Latin word for "hospital"?
The formative source of hospital, hostel, and hotel is Latin hospitale , a word referring to a house or lodging for travelers that is a derivative of the adjective hospitalis (“of a guest,” “hospitable”), which developed from hospes.
Is "hospital" a etymology?
While the word “hospital” was in wide use in 2016, social media discussions of its etymology made no mention of the “house of sick people” purported origin. As of December 18, 2018, the claim did not seem to exist anywhere across ...
What was the term for hospitals in the medieval period?
In the Medieval period the term hospital encompassed hostels for travellers, dispensaries for poor relief, clinics and surgeries for the injured, and homes for the blind, lame, elderly, and mentally ill. Monastic hospitals developed many treatments, both therapeutic and spiritual.
Where did hospitals start?
The history of hospitals began in antiquity with hospitals in Greece, the Roman Empire and on the Indian subcontinent as well, starting with precursors in the Asclepian temples in ancient Greece and then the military hospitals in ancient Rome. The Greek temples were dedicated to the sick and infirm but did not look anything like modern hospitals.
What were the major influences on hospitals during the 20th and 21st century?
Improvements in medicine, medical technology, major worldwide pandemics in 1918 and 2020, and management and consolidation of hospitals were the primary influences on hospitals during the 20th and 21st century.
What were the Catholic hospitals in Philadelphia?
In the 1840s–1880s era, Catholics in Philadelphia founded two hospitals, for the Irish and German Catholics. They depended on revenues from the paying sick, and became important health and welfare institutions in the Catholic community. By 1900 the Catholics had set up hospitals in most major cities. In New York the Dominicans, Franciscans, Sisters of Charity, and other orders set up hospitals to care primarily for their own ethnic group. By the 1920s they were serving everyone in the neighborhood. In smaller cities too the Catholics set up hospitals, such as St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula, Montana. The Sisters of Providence opened it in 1873. It was in part funded by the county contract to care for the poor, and also operated a day school and a boarding school. The nuns provided nursing care especially for infectious diseases and traumatic injuries among the young, heavily male clientele. They also proselytized the patients to attract converts and restore lapsed Catholics back into the Church. They built a larger hospital in 1890. Catholic hospitals were largely staffed by Catholic orders of nuns, and nursing students, until the population of nuns dropped sharply after the 1960s. The Catholic Hospital Association formed in 1915.
What were hospitals like in medieval times?
Medieval hospitals in Europe followed a similar pattern to the Byzantine. They were religious communities , with care provided by monks and nuns. An old French term for hospital is hôtel-Dieu, "hostel of God." Some were attached to monasteries; others were independent and had their own endowments, usually of property, which provided income for their support. Some hospitals were multi-functional while others were founded for specific purposes such as leper hospitals, or as refuges for the poor, or for pilgrims: not all cared for the sick.
Why were hospitals forbidden?
Hospitals were forbidden by law to turn away patients who were unable to pay. Eventually, charitable foundations called waqfs were formed to support hospitals, as well as schools. Part of the state budget also went towards maintaining hospitals.
Why were hospitals closed in the late 1900s?
Many smaller, less efficient hospitals in the West were closed because they could not be sustained.
Overview
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emergency department to treat urgent health problems ranging from fire and accident victims to a sudden illness. A district hospital typically is the major health car…
Etymology
During the Middle Ages, hospitals served different functions from modern institutions in that they were almshouses for the poor, hostels for pilgrims, or hospital schools. The word "hospital" comes from the Latin hospes, signifying a stranger or foreigner, hence a guest. Another noun derived from this, hospitium came to signify hospitality, that is the relation between guest and shelterer, ho…
Types
Some patients go to a hospital just for diagnosis, treatment, or therapy and then leave ("outpatients") 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.
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, 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. They may also have other services such as a hospital pharmacy, radiology, path…
History
In early India, Fa Xian, 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 Gunde…
Funding
Modern hospitals derive funding from a variety of sources. They may be funded by private payment and health insurance or public expenditure, charitable donations.
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 car…
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 …
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 radi…