Massachusetts Has Nation’s Second-Highest Hospital Bed Occupancy

Have you been to a hospital emergency room recently? The number of patients on gurneys and stretchers throughout the ER waiting for triage or an open bed is daunting.

Sometimes patients are placed side by side in the halls as more are wheeled in to wait their turn. It can be unnerving if you are one of them.

An elderly woman I know spent an entire day waiting for a bed at Sturdy Memorial Hospital in Attleboro before being transferred to Miriam Hospital in Providence.

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Massachusetts has the second-highest hospital bed occupancy rate in the nation. Only Rhode Island has a higher demand. As a result, many patients wait potentially days for a hospital bed.

The American Medical Association reports the hospital bed occupancy rate in Massachusetts is 86 percent, and the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association says that is the expected national average in 2032.

The occupancy rate in Rhode Island is 88 percent.

Boston's WBZ-TV Channel 4 reported, "The shortage is not new and started before the COVID-19 pandemic."

The National Library of Medicine says, "The mean US hospital occupancy was 63.9% (range, 63%-66%) from 2009 to 2019 compared with 75.3% (range, 73% to 79%) in the year following the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE; May 2023 to April 2024). It continues to rise.

WBZ reported that an uptick in respiratory viruses, including the flu, is part of the reason, as is staffing shortages at many hospitals.

The situation in the rest of New England is less dire.

New Hampshire has the sixth-highest hospital bed occupancy rate, while Connecticut is 28th, Maine is 30th and Vermont is 35th.