“The chief characteristic of all Wiseman's films—and the source of their tremendous emotional impact—is his instinctive sympathy for people who must confront the specific, human effects of vast, impersonal human social forces” (Richard Schickel, Life). In this portrait of New York City's Metropolitan Hospital, Wiseman shows compassion both for the pain and panic of the sick and for the frustrations of their caregivers. Unlike the indifferent attendants in Titicut Follies, many of these hospital employees are genuinely trying to help, too often hampered by official procedure: a nurse tries to find a bed for a neglected boy fallen from a window, uninjured but with nowhere to go; a psychiatrist coaches a schizophrenic transvestite to lie so he'll have a chance of receiving welfare. In this era of “managed care,” Wiseman's witness to the effects of poverty and bureaucratic obstructionism, and his glimpses of professionals' efforts to make a difference, seem more essential than ever.
—Juliet Clark