How does a 'general hospital' compare to a 'teaching hospital'?

How does a 'general hospital' compare to a 'teaching hospital'?

Arthur Shorr (Former COO and SVP of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center) gives expert video advice on: What are the different types of hospitals in the US?; Why would I need to be admitted to a hospital?; What are my rights as a patient in a hospital? and more...

A general hospital deals with most of the services that people need for their medical care and/or their surgical care. Some general hospitals many have obstetrical departments as opposed to teaching hospitals, which are usually more complex. Sometimes we call teaching hospitals tertiary care hospitals, which means that they provide higher level services, such as cardiac surgery and transplant services. There is a very interesting trend in hospitals and that is things that start out in tertiary care hospitals, like cardiac surgery, become more and more commonplace and more and more routine. For example, cardiac surgery is now done on a very regular basis in community hospitals. Obstetrical services are classically done in community hospitals. Women who have complex medical conditions or who have real complications may very well go to a tertiary care hospital where there is a specialty in obstetrics, where the university professors in medicine and residents can provide an additional level of care to that which is provided by their local physicians.