I don't know when hospitals started becoming medical centers. Or why. They're still hospitals as far as I'm concerned.

If I fall and I can't get up, I may ask you to rush me to the hospital, but not to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. The same holds true if I live in High Point. Get me to the hospital, not to High Point Regional Health Center. Or if I'm in Greenville, get me to the hospital not to East Carolina University Medical Center.

Our second daughter was born in Wilkes General Hospital. Today she would be born in Wilkes Regional Medical Center.

And what's this "Regional" stuff all about? Aren't there other hospitals near Wilkes like in Statesville? Aren't there other hospitals near High Point "Regional," like in Greensboro and Lexington and Thomasville? Moore "Regional" does make sense, however. And, to its credit, it's still called a hospital.

Maybe hospitals became medical centers about the time nurses stopped wearing hats. I liked those hats and how they matched those cute little starched uniforms.

I asked a nurse awhile back why they stopped wearing hats. She said there was concern that the hats carried bacteria.

Let's see if I've got this right. Nurses don't wear caps for fear of bacteria. Yet, people who prepare food in restaurants are required to wear caps, hats or hairnets. Who's right? Seems to me that hair and scalps could easily carry bacteria. So I would prefer that my caregiver (fancy term for nurse) wear a hat like my sous chef and short-order guy.

Furthermore, if surgeons and nurses in operating rooms have to cover their heads, why not doctors and nurses elsewhere in the hospital? I worry about stuff like this.

At least there's been a concerted effort among hospitals to cut back on surgical mistakes. You've heard the horror stories. People having the wrong knee replaced; the wrong leg amputated; or ending up with surgical equipment left inside them.

That brings me to singer Michael Bolton. I'm guessing that he's had surgery recently. And I believe the surgeon left a scalpel or some gauze or a pair of scissors somewhere inside Bolton's body. He seems in pain, especially when he strains to hit the high notes. He was trying to emulate "Ol' Blue Eyes" during the July 4th celebration in Washington, D. C., and it was hard to watch. Quit trying to sing like Sinatra, Michael. Or at least until you pass whatever the doctor left inside your body.

I also worry about hospitals that take non-smoking regulations way too far. Take Moses Cone up in Greensboro. As of July 1, nobody can smoke on the grounds of the hospital. Not anywhere. And when they say nobody they mean nobody -- employees, visitors, vendors, Cheech, Chong, Michael Bolton, the FedEx guy, Columbo.

What about the parking lot?

You mean I can't even puff my pipe in the comfort of my own certified pre-owned vehicle?

Raymond Reid has a home in Pinehurst. He may be reached at RREID7@triad.rr.com.