HOSPITAL CHALLENGES

Hospital Challenges and Healthcare Reforms



Hospital Challenges and Healthcare Reforms

Introduction

Hospitals are a diverse group linked by common functions and affiliations. At the core, they share local governmental oversight and financial support. Hospitals are variously governed- some by city or county commissioners, some by state legislators. They also share several objectives namely, to provide health care services, promote medical education, and foster health care research. They are rarely confined to a single inpatient facility; rather, they often include constellations of off-site, school-based, and mobile clinics, as well as associations with local public health departments. With large volumes of outpatient and emergency visits for no urgent care, they represent major resources for primary and other ambulatory care in the community. The hospital mission is primarily to provide health care services to all persons in the community. To a large extent, such care is provided to individuals who, for reasons relating to poverty, social circumstances, health (including mental health) status, employment, race, and culture, make up the community's most vulnerable populations (Gamble, 1995).

John Hopkins Hospital

The hospital I chose is John Hopkins hospital. I chose this hospital because this is one of the best American hospitals. It ranks first serving 15 specialties. It is ranked first according to the Best Hospitals Honor Roll. All over America, it offers 16 adult and 10 pediatric specialties. This hospital comprises of 918 general beds. Admissions in surgical facility total 47,425 annually. According to the latest data, it has offered 22,224 inpatient and 33,732 outpatient surgeries annually. The visits in emergency rooms comprise of 86,050. It is also a teaching hospital. It is accumulated with Joint Commission (JC) and the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF). It is regarded as the best hospital of America for 22 consecutive years by U.S News and World Report. There are 80 entrances to the hospital. The hospital has about 80,000 visitors per week.

The hospital facilitates the adult patients with the specialty of neurology and neurosurgery, ear, nose and throat, psychiatry, rheumatology, urology. It has scored second number in the specialties of ophthalmology and gynecology. Third number is achieved in the specialties of cancer, cardiology and heart surgery, diabetes and endocrinology, gastroenterology, geriatrics and nephrology. The top facilities offered under pediatric are cancer, urology, neonatology and others. The patients recommended the hospital to friends and family 82% as definitely; 65% state average and 69% national average. Only 3% said definitely not, 7% state average and 5% national average. The hospital is situated in Wolfe Street, Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The affiliated university is John Hopkins University School of Medicine. The type of hospital is teaching. The hospital was found in 1889. Though, it was built in 1877. The governing body is private. It offers its university the facility of biomedical research (Opdycke, 2008).

Background

Based on the analysis previously made of the context of hospital classrooms, it has been designed an educational support framework. The design has been done with special attention to very diverse issues: The importance of the social component of ...