Hospital Care in Provincial Greece
The rural population of the province of Boeotia in Greece now makes considerable use of hospital care for childbirth and for serious illness.1 Both men and women, even those of the older generation, allow themselves to be hospitalized without objection, often, indeed quite willingly. This is a new phenomenon. It is a particularly interesting one because of the many psychological and practical obstacles in the way of the hospitalization of a Greek village patient. Traditionally, there has been a tendency to view hospitalization as a form of desertion of the sick person by the members of his family.2 Transportation to and from the villages to the provincial town in which the hospitals are located is difficult and expensive. Besides, doctors' bills and hospital costs themselves are quite high by local standards.