10/10/2018 Table 4.

1, Definitions of Levels of Hospital Care - Essential Surgery - NCBI Bookshelf

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Debas HT, Donkor P, Gawande A, et al., editors. Essential Surgery: Disease Control Priorities, Third Edition
(Volume 1). Washington (DC): The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank;
2015 Apr 2. doi: 10.1596/978-1-4648-0346-8_ch4

Table 4.1 Definitions of Levels of Hospital Care

Alternative terms commonly

Terminology and definitions found in the literature
First-level hospital Primary-level hospital
Few specialties—mainly internal medicine, obstetrics and District hospital
gynecology, pediatrics, and general surgery Rural hospital
Often only one general practice physician or a nonphysician Community hospital
clinician General hospital
Limited laboratory services available for general analysis but
not for specialized pathological analysis
50–250 beds
Second-level hospital Regional hospital
More differentiated by function, with as many as 5 to 10 clinical Provincial (or equivalent
specialties administrative area, such as
200–800 beds county) hospital
General hospital
Third-level hospital National hospital
Highly specialized staff and technical equipment—for example, Central hospital
cardiology, intensive care unit, and specialized imaging units Academic, teaching, or university
Clinical services highly differentiated by function hospital
Teaching activities in some facilities
300–1,500 beds

Mulligan and others 2003.

From: Chapter 4, General Surgical Emergencies

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