HOSPITALS AND THE COMMUNITY

Abstract

WHEN and when not to hospitalize, what services and facilities should be expected from a hospital, what patterns of staffing should exist for medical and ancillary care, what standards should be demanded, and what reasonable costs may be expected, are questions daily of greater concern to practitioners caring for children. But the character and cost of hospitalization are not the only factors which influence the wise physician in deciding whether to care for a child at home or in hospital. Obviously, there can be little question about the imperative need for hospitalization in conditions requiring use of major equipment or highly skilled nursing care, such as major surgery or complex metabolic disorders.