A tertiary referral hospital (also called a tertiary hospital, tertiary referral center, tertiary care center, or tertiary center) is a
hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...
that provides
tertiary care, which is a level of
health care
Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health profe ...
obtained from specialists in a large hospital after referral from the providers of
primary care and
secondary care.
Beyond that general definition, there is no precise narrower or more formal definition, but tertiary centers usually include the following:
*a major hospital that usually has a full complement of services including
pediatrics
Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until th ...
,
obstetrics
Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surgi ...
,
general medicine,
gynecology
Gynaecology or gynecology (see spelling differences) is the area of medicine that involves the treatment of women's diseases, especially those of the reproductive organs. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, forming the combined are ...
, various branches of
surgery
Surgery ''cheirourgikē'' (composed of χείρ, "hand", and ἔργον, "work"), via la, chirurgiae, meaning "hand work". is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a person to investigate or treat a pat ...
and
psychiatry or
*a specialty hospital dedicated to specific sub-specialty care (
pediatric centers,
oncology centers,
psychiatric hospitals). Patients will often be referred from smaller hospitals to a tertiary hospital for major operations, consultations with sub-specialists and when sophisticated
intensive care facilities are required.
Some examples of tertiary referral center care are:
* Head and neck
oncology
*
Perinatology (high-risk
pregnancies
Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring develops ( gestates) inside a woman's uterus (womb). A multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins.
Pregnancy usually occurs by sexual intercourse, but can ...
)
*
Neonatology
Neonatology is a subspecialty of pediatrics that consists of the medical care of newborn infants, especially the ill or premature newborn. It is a hospital-based specialty, and is usually practised in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). The ...
(high-risk newborn care)
*
PET scans
*
Organ transplantation
*
Trauma surgery
Trauma surgery is a surgery, surgical Specialty (medicine), specialty that utilizes both operative and non-operative management to treat traumatic injuries, typically in an acute setting. Trauma surgeons generally complete Residency (medicine), ...
* High-dose
chemotherapy for
cancer cases
* Growth and
puberty disorders
*
Neurology and
neurosurgery
* In the UK, cases of
poisoning.
See also
*
History of hospitals
*
Secondary hospital
*
Hospital train
*
Hospital ship
*
Underground hospital An underground hospital is a hospital that is constructed underground to protect patients and staff from attack during war. They were often used during World War II but very few now remain operational.
History
Medieval
Ceppo Hospital of Pistoia ...
References
Types of hospitals
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