Why Hospitals on a Hill
 

I had to take my niece to the Lakes Region Hospital emergency room the other day. Everything turned out fine but she had an interesting question:

Why are hospitals always built on a hill? I said I didn't know for sure but I knew where to go to get some answers.

Help me be a smart uncle again!

Not all hospitals in MA are built on a hill so I would say that it just happens to be where there was free land at the time of construction.

Somthing to think about,... if you make it to a hill, in time of need, I think that it is easyer to transend!... Also,... Here in The Lakes Region, there are so many healing qualities for everyone....
God Bless!

this is what my mother told me...
 

When I was a kid, my mother would tell me that the hospitals are on a hills because if you die in the hospital you will be closer to heaven and thus, not have to travel as far :rolleye1:
Of course there are hospitals at sea level too...I guess those poor souls had a longer trip.

pmj

I was told as a child that hospitals were on hills because the air is clearer there and easier to breath.

hospitals on a hill
 

if the hospital is on a hill it is probably an older hospital (i.e. Lakes Region, the old Pportsmouth Hospital) and there was no air conditioning then.......... plus the windows used to open in the old hospitals so they could get a breeze in to cool the patients and clear the air of germs. just my guess.

Some possibilities
 

My answer might depend in part on the age of your niece. You could bring her down to Longwood Ave area in Boston to see hospitals that are not on hills :) .

Many hospitals are built on hills. In addition to the benefits mentioned above, hills were quieter locations.

Maybe it is to make it equally distant for the people in the surrounding valleys?

Of course it could be to provide a better landing spot for Med Flight 'copters.

here in New Jersey it is flat, no hospitals on hills, no hills at all.....longing for the Lake!!!!!!

Huggins Hospital
 

is not on a hill, but in my opinion, if ANY hospital needs to be nearer to Heaven, that would be it!! :(

Why would Huggins need to be any closer to heaven than any other hospital?

Waterbaby's guess is correct. In the old days, pre-airconditioning, hospitals were built at the top of a hill where possible because the air was "fresher" and cooling breezes were more available.

Silver Duck

I had always been told basically the same thing. I'd heard many hospitals were built on hills for treatment of Tuburculosis and other respitory problems.

Hospital and Hills
 

The same is here in Port Jefferson, Long Island.

We have two hospitals and they are both on hills.
They make for great landmarks when coming into the harbor - but the older one - St Charles was originally built as a TB and Polio rehab center; so that would coincide with what was mentioned about clean and cooler air.

Interesting question!

Frdexplr
 

It's a long story.

Many years ago, my daughter was suffering from a digestive disease,(which we did not know at the time) and was in fact about 2 weeks from death, and the Drs. there had not a clue, nor did they listen to me when I told them certain things about her symptoms. Her Dr. was Dr. Frank Allen, who has a bench in Cate Park, I noticed. In fact, I was told it was "too expensive" to send cultures to Concord!! After taking a ride around the Lake one day, from Wolfeboro,(husband, daughter and I) when we were in the Weirs, her eyes glazed over and she was cold and clammy. We hot footed it back to Huggins. Her Dr. was on vacation, and one Dr. said to me, "I don't know what's wrong with her, but if she were MY kid, I would have her admitted." After another month or so of seeing her wither away, I took her to North Shore Babies and Childrens' Hospital in Mass, and within 4 days she was diagnosed with Celiac Disease, or Sprue. I was told that if she hadn't been diagnosed, we would have lost her within 2 weeks. I am happy to say she is now a Junior Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Dept. of State.
She still can't eat gluten.

I could go on, but that is why I said what I did about Huggins.

Keep from getting wet?
 

Building hospitals on hills may go WAY back when there wasn't much in the way of flood controls.

Most buildings could take a flood in better ways than a hospital.

Big-city hospitals are the places to go to get well, IMO.

The story Ladi Di wrote about Huggins Hospital reminds me of many I've been told about LRGH, and of ones we have personally experienced there. It would seem that most people have an LRGH story and that concerns me since it is the first place you will be taken if you have no choice (such as being in an accident). I have wondered if there is a website where hospitals are "rated" on performance, malpractice suits, accidents and so on.

Old Chris
 

If you find one, let me know.

U.S. News & World Report has published an "America's Best Hospitals" issue every spring for 17 years.

You can check up on what's offered at your favorite hospital at: http://www.usnews.com/usnews/health/.../alpha_dir.htm

I have seen that...
 

in my doctors office, 2 years ago, pretty large magazine style eddition, if it is what you mean.....

Med Flight helicopter
 

I wondered what those helicopters looked like but never saw one close up. Is there a web site or on-line story with more pictures to go along with that med flight helicopter picture?

Hospitals on hills are like airports. You get a ride to the place. Up the hill to a hospital when you are ill. To the upper level at the airport with all your baggage. When it is time to leave the hospital you could walk and walking down is easier than up. After your trip you leave the airport at the ground level. Your luggage is already at ground level and you can get to transportation or walk away easier.

hospitals
 

Hospitals were usually always built on a hill for better ventilation/air for both the patients and also to keep "germs and disease" away from the rest of the population

Med Flight Helicopter
 

I took that shot in September at an auto roll-over with injuries. Channels 5 and 7 had TV crews there but I did not see anything on their archives with pictures or the story. Here are some other shots I took from the accident. The car on it's side. A look inside the med-flight copter. And a few other shots. Note the TV crew. They missed the car roll over and arrived at the med-flight scene before I did. But they chose to take their pictures standing up against my mini-van.

Sounds right -- kind of a "chubby" magazine edition.

"America's Best Hospitals" is available as a reprint from U.S. News & World Report at reprints@parsinti.com

(Or 212-221-9595 X210).