The Matter of Hospitals: An Alphabetical Investigation

A lot that matters happens in hospitals, from moments of new life to those of end-of-life alike. But hospitals are also places filled with matter in its many material forms. At times, there is too much of it, piling up as clinical waste; at other times, there is too little, as seen in the bare pharmacy shelves during the pandemic. More often, matter is there, circulating, overlooked, yet vital to the functioning of hospitals. This book invites readers to discover never-before-told stories of hospitals through an unusual assortment of materials, offering a unique and timely glimpse into one of society’s most feared, essential, and sensorially rich institutions.