Girl from America in hospital (5)
I believe the answer is:
susan
'girl' is the definition.
'america in hospital' is the wordplay.
'america' becomes 'us' (United States).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'hospital' becomes 'san' (short for sanatorium).
'us' inserted inside 'san' is 'SUSAN'.
'from' is the link.
(Other definitions for susan that I've seen before include "- - Sarandon, film actress" , "with blooming black eye?" , "sometimes lazy, passing round the condiments" , "She's a black-eyed flower" , "woman" .)