The advantage that hospitals have over other institutions is that hospitals are community-based. You can't outsource your work; you can't move your emergency department to Pakistan.

Personal life
Mark Shields is married to Anne Hudson Shields who is a lawyer and former civil service official at the United States Department of the Interior. For 17 years Shields was moderator and panelist on CNN's Capital Gang. He began writing a column the same year that is now distributed nationally by Creators Syndicate.

Previous counterparts were the late William Safire Paul Gigot of the Wall Street Journal and David Gergen. Shields is also a regular panelist on Inside Washington a weekly public affairs show that is seen on both PBS and ABC.