A collocation to mean going to hospital

Question

I'm looking for a collocation to use with the word hospital which would mean "going to hospital".

I'm translating a medical academic paper and I need to say "20% of more than 350 million people going to hospitals prefer tertiary referral hospitals.". This is a frequent expression and used extensively in tables as well throughout the text. Since it is an academic paper, going to hospital does not sound right to me.

In Turkish you can say applying to hospitals but my Google search gives job applications for hospital vacancies in English.

PS Please note that your are not referred/rushed/taken or admitted to the hospital, you go there by yourself. That is the meaning I'm aiming for.

Thank you.

Answer 1

As an alternative to admit I suggest the verb treat. Lexico has this:

VERB
2 Give medical care or attention to; try to heal or cure.
the two were treated for cuts and bruises

The sentence becomes

20% of more than 350 million people treated by hospitals prefer tertiary referral hospitals.

People who go to a hospital are not necessarily treated, they may only be examined. Another suggestion is attend. Lexico has this:

VERB
1.1 Go regularly to (a school, church, or clinic)
Shannon attends regular clinics and will probably do so for the rest of her life, but the change in her is dramatic.

The sentence becomes

20% of more than 350 million people attending hospital prefer tertiary referral hospitals.

In this use the first hospital is now singular.

Answer 2

In the strict context of your example (and clarifications), you could simply use patients.

This doesn't mean "going to hospital as a patient" - which has been answered by the others, but works as an alternative.

20% of more than 350 million patients prefer tertiary referral hospitals.

Answer 3

I think your are looking for:

Hospitalize:

admit or cause (someone) to be admitted to hospital for treatment.

• "Casey was hospitalized for chest pains"

For verbs to use with hospital:

Verb + Hospital: go into/to He's had to go into hospital rather suddenly. | rush sb to, take sb to | admit sb to, readmit sb to | stay in | come out of, leave She came out of hospital this morning. | discharge sb from hospital.

(Oxford Collocation Dictionary)