Hospital Bed Supply Shrinks While Hospital Workforce Grows

OPEN MINDS Weekly News Wire Strategic Health Care News Between 1996 and 2006, the hospital bed capacity in the United States decreased by 13%. Yet in the same period of time, hospitals increased the number of employed staff by six percent. Overall, the distribution of hospital beds and staff in the United States fails to reflect the regional need for care. For instance, San Mateo and San Luis Obispo, both in California, had 1.45 hospital beds per 1,000 residents in 2006; Jackson and Gulfport, in Mississippi, both had 4.44 beds per thousand residents. These are findings of . . .