I don't know what hospitals you're going to but the ones in the US don't qualify that statement. Would I say they're filthy? No, but they certainly don't look like they're cleaned often, thoroughly, or completely.
Edit: there was even one room where I put on rubber gloves and used the disinfectant wipes from the janitor’s cart to clean dried blood from my IV pole and the bed rails.
Oww, come on, that is simply not true, in the last - say - 100 years in Italy (post WW1 emergencies).
So, either your friend is very, very old, or she is making it up for the benefit of folklore.
Until the '60's or maybe early '70's syringes and needles were not "use once and throwaway" but of course they were washed after every use and sterilized before a new use.