[The geriatric department in a general hospital]

Geriatric medicine encompasses different aspects including geriatric evaluation, geriatric rehabilitation, chronic institutional care and acute geriatric care. In the last few years, the place of the geriatric department in the realm of the general hospital has come under discussion. In Israel, most general hospitals have a geriatric department, but its characteristics vary from one hospital to another. It would seem that a geriatric department in a general hospital is obligatory, but it can only be complementary to the internal medicine department, not replace it. The geriatric department should provide services for elderly patients with special needs such as multi-faceted illness, acute illness combined with a loss in general and cognitive function and facilitate services for elderly patients with expectations of extended stay and/or chronic hospitalization, etc. In addition, integration should be encouraged between the department and chronic care institutions and it should act as an "umbrella consulting firm" to the different hospital departments that provide treatment for most of the patients that are 65 years old and above. Among the important functions of the geriatric department is the training of interns and the teaching of geriatrics in nursing schools. The existence of geriatric departments in general hospitals will help in preserving the status of internal medicine.