A Long‐term Geriatric Teaching Ward in an Acute‐care Hospital: A Three‐year Experience

The development and management of a long‐term geriatric ward in an acute‐care teaching hospital are described. Structure, function, and costs are discussed, and issues of service and medical education are emphasized. A full geriatric team (physician, nurse, social worker, physiotherapist, and occupational therapist) assessed 165 long‐term patients in the general wards of the hospital and accepted 98 for admission to the new long‐term geriatric ward. Of these, 31 were discharged; 29 per cent went to a facility that encouraged more independent living. Eighteen patients died during their stay in the geriatric ward; autopsies were obtained in 33 per cent—a higher autopsy rate than the average for general hospitals. General hospitals may continue to have large populations of chronically ill patients. This model for a geriatric ward may offer a way of dealing with a difficult situation. 1982 The American Geriatrics Society