Stay in hospital or stay at hospital

at the hospital

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it so that a doctor is at the hospital (he only works there) and a patient is in the hospital?

See Post:76945. If you click on this link, you will find a post regarding in vs at. It explains usage.

Because it was already noted that the person spoken of was a patient, I figured "at" was appropriate.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9A07E4DA1730E033A25755C2A96E9C94659ED7CF

I defer to the NYTimes.

You are deferring to an archived NYTimes article from 1894! In current American English, a patient who has been admitted for an overnight (or longer) stay is usually referred to as "in the hospital." Doctors work at the hospital. A person might have tests done at the hospital, but if he stays overnight he is in the hospital.

(If you mention the hospital by name, i

I don't mean to beat a dead horse, but http://www.nytimes.com/1981/11/19/us/around-the-nation-grand-jury-to-hear-case-of-doctor-held

TinyPixie, If you can, I think your safest bet is to combine Khoff's suggestion with my own. ( During the patient's stay at St. Joseph's hospital) Or perhaps you could ask a fellow doctor, with whom you are close.

Actually, looking back over this thread, I find I've been arguing the wrong point. I feel more strongly about the choice of "in" over "at" when the sentence is simply "John is in/at the hospital." In this case, "in" is necessary to indicate that John is a patient rather than, say, a cook or a deliveryman. When the sentence itself explains John's status, the choice of preposition is less crucial

I could be a hardhead at times.

TinyPixieWhich phrase whould be correct in US English: "during the patient's stay IN THE HOSPITAL" or "AT THE HOSPITAL"

I don't see a problem with either one. I don't think writers use either one or the other to the exclusion of the other.

As mentioned earlier in the thread, because the status is already determined by the word patient, this i