Hospitals - A Broad Community Service - A Look at New Trends in Health and Hospital Care - The Need to Increase, Change and Modernize Our Health Facilities

Sep 21, 2026

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Radical changes in United States medical care are examined over a 25-year period, highlighting rising hospital admissions, shorter average stays, and shifting hospital billing responsibilities. The discussion emphasizes how hospitals evolved from semi-independent businesses into active community resources offering broader services such as blood banks, radioactive isotope services, physiotherapy, and premature nursery care. It also details changing diagnostic intensity, the role of community needs analysis, and approaches for caring for indigent and chronically ill patients.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages6

Reading Time15 min

AccessFree to download

Hospitals-A Broad Community Service

Community services expansion and measurable trends

Age distribution and community factors

Hospitals and The Indigent Care

R adical changes have taken place in medical care inthe United States in the past 25 years... In 1935,for example,the national annual admissionrate for acute general hospitals was three admissionsper 100 population.Today it is 12 per 100 persons. The average stay in hospitals in the United States in1935 was 18.6 days.Today it is 7.8 days. In 1935,the average hospital bill for 18.6 days was$145.54.Today,the bill for the average 7.8 days is$205.51.During the same period the cost of livingincreased 384 per cent. It is interesting to note that in 1935,78 per cent ofall hospital bills were sent to the patient or to a relativeof the patient.Today,only 14 per cent of the hospitalbill is paid directly by the patient or his family.Theremainder is paid by Blue Cross,by a commercial in-surance carrier or by some governmental agency. But the changes have been more sweeping than eventhese figures indicate.In the past 25 years the entire roleof the hospital has changed from a semi-independentbusiness,often operated like the corner grocery store,to that of an active,dynamic,quasi-public communityresource. In 1935 there were only a little over eight millionoutpatient visits to the hospitals of the United States.Last year there were 86,000,000.This is a more thanten-fold increase. A Compilation of News and Notes Related to Fund-Raising VOLUME 6 APR 11.90 The Bulletin of THE AMERICAN AS S0CIATI0N 0F FUND-RAISING COUN SEL QUARTERLY APRIL,1960 ‘A LOOK AT NEW TRENDS IN HEALTH AND HOSPITAL CARE一THE NEED TO INCREASE,CHANGE AND MODERNIZEOUR HEALTH FACILITIES'' by John G.Steinleof John G.Steinle and AssociotesConsultonts to Institutions(Excerpts from an address at American Association of Fund-Roising Counsel Winter Meeting) Hospitals-A Broad Community Service There are other evidences,just as tangible,of themanner in which the hospitals have expanded their roleas agencies providing broad community services.Wefind,for example,that: —Eighty-two per cent of hospitals have blood banks,and 21 per cent have radioactive isotope services.In 1935,there were no facilities for these activities. —Almost 60 per cent of hospitals today have physi-cal therapy departments.This compares with onlyfour per cent in 1935. —Fifty-six per cent of hospitals have prematurenursery services.Only seven per cent had theseservices 25 years ago. But the change in the hospitals'role has manifesteditself in other dimensions as well,over the past 25 years.Even though the patient stayed longer in 1935,his diag-nosis and treatment were not nearly as active nor asthorough as they are today.In 1935,the average patientwas given less than two laboratory tests.one X-raypicture and two prescriptions during his stay.Today hereceives over eight laboratory tests,has three X-raypictures taken and is given five prescriptions... We have come to recognize that the hospital of todaymust be tailored to the needs of the community it is toserve.And one of the most important indices to theneeds of the community,we have found,is the agedistribution of the people living in it.Age distributionin an area will give us essential clues to the intensity and proportion of the various types of care —medi-cal,surgical,obstetrical and pediatric—that must beprovided... The manner in which a hospital and its facilities willbe used will be definitely determined by such factors asreligious and ethnic distribution of the population,thenature of industries in the area and the social andcultural patterns of the community. When it comes to providing care for chronic,mentaland tuberculous patients,we find we must probe evenmore deeply into such factors as the number and effec-tiveness of existing community resources and agenciesconcerned with prevention,diagnosis,ambulatory andposthospital care... Hospitals and The Indigent Care of the indigent and the medically indigent is aresponsibility that is discharged by a variety of methodsin different communities. In

FAQs

What major changes occurred in U.S. hospitals over the past 25 years?

Admissions increased sharply, average hospital stays shortened, and hospital bills shifted in who pays. Hospitals also expanded their functions beyond earlier semi-independent operations.

How did hospital services and patient care intensity change?

More hospitals adopted services like blood banks, radioactive isotope services, physiotherapy departments, and prematurity nursery services. Patient care became more active, with more laboratory tests, X-rays, and prescriptions during stays.

How does the bulletin describe the hospital’s role in community needs?

Hospital use is presented as determined by community factors such as age distribution, religious and ethnic composition, local industries, and social and cultural patterns, guiding the types and intensity of care required.

Sep 21, 2026

Upload by Aria