Hospital Privileges Revisited

It is the opinion of this writer that the laws relating to hospital privileges basically are sound and in the public interest.There is no clear reason to overthrow the accumulated wisdom of the last hundred years. American hospitals have become the best in the world because of the freedom with which they have been allowed to function. This does not militate against the constant march for improvement. As can be seen, there are cases where individuals are handicapped in their use of hospitals.These situations reflect social problems, not defects in existing laws which, like our Constitutional rights, sometimes are somewhat unsatisfactory in their application.

Basically then, no physician has an absolute right to practice in a hospital. It would be a sad day if such a right were ever to exist. For it is the qualifications and restrictions on the privilege to practice in a hospital that have helped to eliminate , the poorly trained, the maladjusted, and the who have plagued the American medical profession and the public.