Harvard research finds 4.7% drop in US hospital numbers

From 2010 through 2025, the number of emergency care hospitals in the United States fell by 216, while the number of hospital beds declined by approximately 24,400.

According to Report, the findings were published in a study by Harvard University researchers in the scientific journal JAMA.

The researchers analyzed data from 4,962 hospitals. During the period under review, 432 medical facilities (8.7%) were closed, while 216 new facilities (4.4%) were opened. As a result, the total number of hospitals decreased by 4.7% compared with 2010.

At the same time, the number of hospital beds fell by 24,399, or 3.3%.

The study also found that the annual number of hospital closures increased by an average of 4%, while the number of new hospital openings declined by 3% over the same period.

In addition, the ratio of hospital closures to openings was found to be roughly the same in both urban and rural areas.