# Health facility

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Any location at which medicine is practiced regularly

[Hartford Hospital](/source/Hartford_Hospital) in [Hartford, Connecticut](/source/Hartford%2C_Connecticut). A [hospital](/source/Hospital) is one common type of health facility.

An eye, ear, nose, and throat clinic in [Durham, North Carolina](/source/Durham%2C_North_Carolina), illustrating a common smaller facility.

A **health facility** is, in general, any location where [healthcare](/source/Healthcare) is provided. Health facilities range from small [clinics](/source/Clinic) and [doctor's offices](/source/Doctor's_office) to [urgent care](/source/Urgent_care) centers and large [hospitals](/source/Hospital) with elaborate [emergency rooms](/source/Emergency_room) and [trauma centers](/source/Trauma_center). The number and quality of health facilities in a [country](/source/Country) or region is one common measure of that area's [prosperity](/source/Prosperity) and [quality of life](/source/Quality_of_life). In many countries, health facilities are [regulated](/source/Regulation) to some extent by [law](/source/Health_law); [licensing](/source/Licensing) by a regulatory agency is often required before a facility may open for business. Health facilities may be owned and operated by [for-profit businesses](/source/Business), [non-profit organizations](/source/Non-profit_organization), [governments](/source/Government), and, in some cases, [individuals](/source/Individual), with proportions varying by country. See also the recent review paper,[1]

## Health facility workload

The workload of a health facility is often used to indicate its size. Large health facilities are those with a greater patient load.

In Australia the workload of a health facility is used to determine the level of government funding provided to that facility. The government measures a facility (or health practice) in terms of its **standard whole patient equivalent** (**SWPE**). The SWPE calculation is determined by analysis of the patients that attend that facility. The calculation takes into account the proportion of health services (in dollars) rendered at that facility relative to others that each patient attends. It includes a weighting factor based on each patients' demography to account for the varied levels of services required by patients depending on their gender and age.[2] The premise of weighting is that patients require different levels of health services depending on their age and gender. For example, the average male patient requires fewer consultations than his older and infant counterparts. The table shows the weighting factors used in the standardization of workloads.

**Table: Age by Sex Weights for SWPE Standardisation**

Age (years) Male Female less than 1 0.960 0.962 1-4 1.189 1.112 less than 10 0.688 0.699 15-24 0.633 0.938 25-44 0.729 1.012 45-64 0.963 1.199 65-74 1.355 1.623 75+ 1.808 2.183

## Types of health facility

### Hospital

Main article: [Hospital](/source/Hospital)

A hospital is an institution for [healthcare](/source/Healthcare) typically providing specialized treatment for [inpatient](/source/Patient) (or overnight) stays. Some hospitals primarily admit patients with a specific [disease](/source/Disease) or affliction, or are reserved for the diagnosis and treatment of conditions affecting a specific age group. Others have a mandate that expands beyond offering dominantly curative and rehabilitative care services to include promotional, preventive and educational roles as part of a [primary healthcare](/source/Primary_healthcare) approach. Today, hospitals are usually funded by the state, health organizations ([for profit](/source/For-profit_hospital) or [non-profit](/source/Non-profit_organization)), by [health insurances](/source/Health_insurance) or by [charities](/source/Charitable_organization) and by donations. Historically, however, they were often founded and funded by religious orders or charitable individuals and leaders. Hospitals are nowadays staffed by professionally trained doctors, nurses, paramedical clinicians, etc., whereas historically, this work was usually done by the founding religious orders or by volunteers.

### Healthcare center

See also: [Primary care](/source/Primary_care)

Healthcare centres, including [clinics](/source/Clinic), [doctor's offices](/source/Doctor's_office), [urgent care](/source/Urgent_care) centers and [ambulatory surgery centers](/source/Ambulatory_surgery_center), serve as first point of contact with a health professional and provide outpatient medical, nursing, dental, and other types of care services.[3]

### Medical Nursing Homes

Medical nursing homes, including [residential treatment centers](/source/Residential_treatment_center) and [geriatric care facilities](/source/Geriatric_care_management), are health care institutions which have accommodation facilities and which engage in providing short-term or long-term medical treatment of a general or specialized nature not performed by hospitals to inpatients with any of a wide variety of medical conditions.[4]

### Pharmacies and drug stores

Main article: [Pharmacy](/source/Pharmacy)

Pharmacies and drug stores comprise establishments engaged in retailing prescription or nonprescription drugs and medicines, and other types of medical and orthopaedic goods.[4] Regulated pharmacies may be based in a [hospital](/source/Hospital_pharmacy) or clinic or they may be privately operated, and are usually staffed by pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and pharmacy aides.

### Medical laboratory and research

Main articles: [Medical laboratory](/source/Medical_laboratory) and [Biomedical research](/source/Biomedical_research)

A medical laboratory or clinical laboratory is a [laboratory](/source/Laboratory) where tests are done on biological specimens in order to get information about the [health](/source/Health) of a [patient](/source/Patient). Such laboratories may be divided into categorical departments such as [microbiology](/source/Microbiology), [hematology](/source/Hematology), [clinical biochemistry](/source/Clinical_biochemistry), [immunology](/source/Immunology), [serology](/source/Serology), [histology](/source/Histology), [cytology](/source/Cell_biology), [cytogenetics](/source/Cytogenetics), or [virology](/source/Virology). In many countries, there are two main types of labs that process the majority of medical specimens. Hospital laboratories are attached to a [hospital](/source/Hospital), and perform tests on these patients. Private or community laboratories receive samples from [general practitioners](/source/General_practitioner), insurance companies, and other health clinics for analysis.

A biomedical research facility is where [basic research](/source/Basic_research) or [applied research](/source/Applied_research) is conducted to aid the body of knowledge in the field of [medicine](/source/Medicine). Medical research can be divided into two general categories: the evaluation of new treatments for both safety and efficacy in what are termed [clinical trials](/source/Clinical_trial), and all other research that contributes to the development of new treatments. The latter is termed [preclinical research](/source/Pre-clinical_development) if its goal is specifically to elaborate knowledge for the development of new therapeutic strategies.

## See also

- [Health care industry](/source/Health_care_industry)

- [Lists of hospitals](/source/Lists_of_hospitals)

- [Walk-in clinic](/source/Walk-in_clinic)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Ahmadi_1-0)** Ahmadi-Javid, A.; Seyedi, P.; Syam, S. (2017). "A Survey of Healthcare Facility Location". *Computers & Operations Research*. **79**: 223–263. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1016/j.cor.2016.05.018](https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.cor.2016.05.018).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** [AUSTRALIAN MEDICAL WORKFORCE BENCHMARKS](https://web.archive.org/web/20100806234313/http://www.ahwo.gov.au/documents/Publications/1996/Australian%20medical%20workforce%20benchmarks.pdf) (PDF). *Australian Medical Workforce Advisory Committee* (Report). Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. January 1996. p. 25. Archived from the original on August 6, 2010.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Definition of Terms"](https://web.archive.org/web/20101209173619/http://www.wpro.who.int/NR/rdonlyres/4FAEFE0B-0194-40FC-A1F7-7BA9CC96F0CD/0/44finalDefinitions2010.pdf) (PDF). *World Health Organization*. Manila. 2010. Archived from the original on December 9, 2010.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-UNSD_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-UNSD_4-1) ["International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities Rev.3.1"](http://unstats.un.org/unsd/cr/registry/regcst.asp?Cl=17). *United Nations Statistics Division*.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Health facility](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_facility) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_facility?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.