A health care facility providing patient treatment by specialised staff and equipment established by a private organization. Private hospitals may be for-profit or non-profit. The earliest types of private hospitals, indeed hospitals in general, were set up by religious institutions and some continue to be run by such organizations. Some, however, are run as businesses especially in countries without universal healthcare (see: U.S.A.).

Barber, Katherine, ed. "Hospital." Canadian Oxford Dictionary. 2nd edition. Don Mills : Oxford University Press, 2004. Print.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_hospital