A health care organization that has a governing body, an organized medical staff and professional staff and inpatient facilities and provides medical nursing and related services for ill and injured patients 24 hrs per day, seven days per week. For licensing purposes, each state has its own definition of hospital.

(1) A hospital including a physical plant and personnel that provides multidisciplinary diagnosis and treatment for diseases that have one or more of the following characteristics: is permanent; leaves residual disability; is caused by nonreversible pathological alteration; requires special training of the patient for rehabilitation; and/or may be expected to require a long period of supervision or care. In addition, patients require the safety, security, and shelter of these specialized inpatient or partial hospitalization settings. (2) A hospital that provides medical and skilled nursing services to patients with long-term illnesses who are not in an acute phase but who require an intensity of services not available in nursing homes. Source: (1) Expanded from Rhea, Ott, and Shafritz, The Facts On File Dictionary of Health Care Management, New York: Facts On File Publications, 1988.

An acute general hospital is an institution whose primary function is to provide inpatient diagnostic and therapeutic services for a variety of medical conditions, both surgical and non-surgical, to a wide population group. The hospital treats patients in an acute phase of illness or injury, characterized by a single episode or a fairly short duration, from which the patient returns to his or her normal or previous level of activity.

A hospital or facility that provides health-related, social and/or vocational services to disabled persons to help them attain their maximum functional capacity. Source: Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, Lexikon: Dictionary of Health Care Terms, Organizations and Acronyms for the Era of Reform, Oakbrook Terrace, IL: 1994, p. 323