hospital

A place for the reception of persons sick or infirm in body or in mind; a building founded through charity, where the sick and disabled may be treated solely at their own expense, or at the expense of the institution. An institution for receiving, maintaining and, as far as possible, ameliorating the condition of persons suffering from bodily defects, mental maladies, or other misfortunes affecting health and physical condition adversely. 26 Am J1st Hospit § 2. A hospital is primarily a service organization. It serves three groups: the patients, its doctors, and the public. It furnishes the place where the patient, whether poor or rich, can be treated under ideal conditions. It makes available room, special diet, X-ray, laboratory, surgery, and a multitude of other services and equipment now available through the advances of medical science. Cedars of Lebanon Hospital v Los Angeles County, 35 Cal 2d 729, 221 P2d 31, 15 ALR2d 1045. As the term appears in a policy of hospital insurance, it does not include a nursing home, a convalescent home, or a private dwelling. 29A Am J Rev ed Ins § 1532. See public hospital.