Report Warns U.S. Heading to Shortage of Hospital Beds

March 9, 2025 (EIRNS)—The American Medical Association’s JAMA Network report issued on Feb. 19 warns that the demand for hospital beds will continue to increase in the U.S., but the availability will decrease leading to a “dangerous threshold” by 2032. The researchers warn that by 2032 national hospital occupancy is expected to exceed 85% when “basic hospital operations can become dysfunctional and even unsafe.” Already the rate of hospital admissions is 11% higher than figures before the pandemic, due simply to an aging and “more medically complex” population. Ten years ago hospital occupancy was 63.9% of capacity, but last year it was 75.3%.