The Modern Hospital in Historical Context: A Modern Health Bonanza [Retrospectroscope]

The evolution and development of hospitals in their historical context are quickly reviewed in this column, starting first as simple shelters for the sick and indigent who were waiting essentially for death, and up to the relatively recent concept of true health centers where patients face a high probability of actual recovery and rehabilitation. Anesthesia, microbiology, asepsia, antibiotics, virology, radiology, transfusion, and different biomedical engineering technologies, as well as knowledge in other basic sciences, have led to the intensive care and emergency units that were introduced in the 1960s, which lead to the specialty of critical care medicine and positioning the patient as the center of care.