Tertiary referral hospital
A tertiary hospital, tertiary referral center or tertiary care center is a term without a formal definition which in the United States generally refers to:
- a major hospital that usually has a full complement of services including pediatrics, general medicine, various branches of surgery and psychiatry or
- a specialty hospital dedicated to specific sub-specialty care (pediatric centers, Oncology centers, psychiatric hospitals). Patients will often be referred from smaller hospitals to a tertiary hospital for major operations, consultations with sub-specialists and when sophisticated intensive care facilities are required.
In both the United Kingdom and the United States, a tertiary referral hospital can also mean any hospital that provides tertiary care.
Some examples of tertiary referral center care are: