A Hospital's Political Environment and Its Effect on the Patient's Admission

How a cry for help, such as a request for admission to a hospital, is answered depends as much on the hospital's political environment as on the patient's presenting problem. The political environment here refers to the hospital complex within which competing interest groups or individuals vie for power or control. A description of the various political power plays that go on as a patient moves toward admission shows the vicissitudes of a system impinging on a patient needing help, and the problems thus presented to the personnel within the system. The situation described is a composite based on the author's training and work experiences in various medical settings.