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In the United States and many other industrialized countries, heart disease is the leading cause of death. According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 710,000 people in the United States die of heart disease each year.
By far the most common type of heart disease in the United States is coronary heart disease,in which the arteries that nourish the heart become narrowed and unable to supply enough blood and oxygen to the heart muscle.
However, many other problems can also affect the heart, including congenital defects (physical abnormalities that are present at birth), malfunction of the heart valves, and abnormal heart rhythms. Any type of heart disease may eventually result in heart failure, in which a weakened heart is unable to pump sufficient blood to the body.
HISTORY OF HOSPITALS:
Today the United States is home to 6,021 hospitals that contain over 1 million hospital beds. U.S.hospitals annually admit some 34 million patients who are assigned a bed and receive medical or surgical treatment as inpatients. Hospitals also provide outpatient treatment in clinics or other walk-in, or ambulatory, settings for an additional 483 million patients every year.
Hospitals in the United States are classified by the services they provide (general or specialized), the length of stay they offer patients (short stay or long-term care), and by their ownership (not-for-profit, proprietary, or government owned). Although most U.S. hospitals are classified as not-for-profit, any one hospital will fall into several of the above categories. For example, Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas, with more than 300,000 sq m (3 million sq ft) of space, is one of the largest short-stay, not-for-profit, general hospitals in the country.
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HISTORY OF HOSPITALS
