Why the U.S. Doesn’t Have More Hospital Beds

With much of the news focused on the surge capacity of the nation’s hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic, Drew Altman’s Axios column today examines why the nation has a shortage of hospital beds and what can be done about it. He writes,

“It’s a result of past policies aimed at reducing hospital beds to control costs,” he writes. “If we want to have surge capacity of hospital beds and equipment in place for the next crisis, Congress will have to dictate that capacity by law, decide which hospitals to put it in, and fund it, while increasing the strategic stockpile of equipment like ventilators, masks and other PPE. “

Read the full column here.