The Application of Hospitality to Medicine Aris Raj Agarwala

Throughout high school, I pursued endeavors to alleviate suffering and fulfill my Catholic calling, volunteering in nursing homes, hospitals and clinics for chronically ill patients. However, working in these places made me notice the inherent difficulties faced by many institutions to provide a decent standard of living for their patients, not providing proper sanitation, palatable food, and pleasant environments. Instead, I have seen individuals suffering from sickness spread through the poorly-ventilated rooms and unsanitary water, contracting additional illnesses which only tax their bodies further. Being in these positions illustrated to me the necessity needed in leading these facilities to provide health care at a comfortable standard for patients. Thus, at Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration, I hope to integrate the schooling that I will get in hospitality with the medical industry, restructuring nursing homes, hospitals and clinics to both improve the health care quality while also saving many of them from bankruptcy which causes strife for the sick people housed in them.

Even with the government funding that many of these facilities receive, their overheads are higher than their revenue, thereby...