I've been in and out of various hospitals over the last 30 years or so....

[Warpy]

7. I have also been a guest at many hospitals, almost as many as I worked in

and foul food is the rule rather than the exception. Hospitals here in NM do a better job than most because they follow the rest of the state in lacing everything with garlic and green chile. Even if it's low fat and salt free, it has flavor.

The main thing I've seen since the 60s is the change in technology and how machinery has been brought in in an attempt to substitute for bedside nurses. While some of it is wonderful stuff, the biggest predictor of a good patient outcome is still the bedside nurse with a reasonable caregiver to patient ratio. For every extra patient the nurse has, the morbidity and mortality rate goes up 15% no matter how many shiny new machines there are.