Celebrate National Hospital Week May 11-17th, 2008
National Hospital Week, May 11-17
Excellent health care starts with excellent people. During National Hospital Week, Golden Valley Memorial Healthcare joins hospitals from coast to coast in a celebration of professionalism, dedication and compassion – human qualities that keep our system of care and caring at the forefront of medicine.
This year’s theme, “Where Healing Happens Every Day,” honors the men and women who help make America’s hospitals the best in the world. GVMH takes this opportunity to thank them, and to remind everyone about the important role hospitals play in our communities.
Today, according to the American Hospital Association’s Hospital Statistics, nearly 6,000 hospitals and over five million dedicated staff members serve as beacons of hope in their communities.
A look back shows just how far we’ve come:
The first hospital on American soil was built in Philadelphia in 1751 at the urging of Benjamin Franklin. But early hospitals were far from today's modern technological marvels. While they served a vital role, they were slow to win over a population for whom hospitals were unfamiliar and even frightening places.
1918 - The Year of Fear Sets the Stage for National Hospital Week
While medicine was advancing, disease remained a formidable enemy.
The flu outbreak of 1918 would become the deadliest epidemic in American history. Over the course of the year, the so-called "Spanish flu" would kill more than 600,000 Americans.
It changed everyday life. Cities like San Francisco mandated the wearing of face masks and made it illegal for citizens to remove them in public. In October alone, 195,000 Americans died. Chicago's crime rate dropped 43 percent, with local authorities attributing the dubious decline to the horrific toll the outbreak was taking on the city's lawbreakers.
This climate of fear and fatalism captured the attention of a Chicago magazine editor in 1921. In a column, the editor proposed a radical idea: he called for hospitals to open their doors to the public for just one day, and for the public to come inside and see the modern advances that had turned these long-dreaded halls into impressive care centers.
The Nation Responded
On May 12, 1921, America celebrated its first National Hospital Day.
Fittingly held on Florence Nightingale's birthday (she had died 11 years earlier at the age of 90), it provided a window of opportunity for hospitals to capture the trust of their communities. The event spread across the country and was expanded to National Hospital Week in 1953. Today, the annual celebration continues to be held during the week of the legendary nurse's birthday, a symbol of her lasting impact on health care.
Today’s version of the commemorative celebration demonstrates that hospitals are foundations of the communities that built them and nurture them. According to Hospital Statistics, hospitals admit almost 37 million patients each year, treat another 117 million in emergency departments and see another 545 million for other outpatient needs. On any given day, 658,000 patients fill U.S. hospital beds.
Hospitals today are multi-dimensional facilities covering every area of specialization, with a focus on wellness and a reach that extends into the communities they serve. To get the latest news about GVMH or to find out about the hospital’s community programs, log on to www.gvmh.org and sign up for the new monthly e-newsletter.
