Five Transformative Episodes in the History of the American Hospital

Our historical idea of a hospital as a place of hospitable refuge and/or a place for the provision of scientifically skilled and compassionate care for the sick has evolved. Hospitals are now linked to outpatient care, health professions education, biomedical research, and employment of physicians and frequently constitute a major component of the local economy. They are unquestionably an important part of the national economy.