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Would the United States Have Had Too Few Beds for Universal Emergency Care in the Event of a More Widespread Covid-19 Epidemic?

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  • Rodney P Jones

    (Healthcare Analysis & Forecasting, Wantage, Oxfordshire OX12 0NE, UK)

Abstract

(1) Background: To evaluate the level of hospital bed numbers in U.S. states relative to other countries using a new method for evaluating bed numbers, and to determine if this is sufficient for universal health care during a major Covid-19 epidemic in all states (2) Methods: Hospital bed numbers in each state were compared using a new international comparison methodology. Covid-19 deaths per 100 hospital beds were used as a proxy for bed capacity pressures. (3) Results: Hospital bed numbers show large variation between U.S. states and half of the states have equivalent beds to those in developing countries. Relatively low population density in over half of US states appeared to have limited the spread of Covid-19 thus averting a potential major hospital capacity crisis. (4) Conclusions: Many U.S. states had too few beds to cope with a major Covid-19 epidemic, but this was averted by low population density in many states, which seemed to limit the spread of the virus.

Suggested Citation

  • Rodney P Jones, 2020. "Would the United States Have Had Too Few Beds for Universal Emergency Care in the Event of a More Widespread Covid-19 Epidemic?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(14), pages 1-14, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:14:p:5210-:d:386663
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Rodney P. Jones, 2020. "A pragmatic method to compare hospital bed provision between countries and regions: Beds in the States of Australia," International Journal of Health Planning and Management, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(3), pages 746-759, May.
    2. Alan M. Garber & Thomas E. MaCurdy & Mark C. McClellan, 1998. "Medical Care at the End of Life: Diseases, Treatment Patterns, and Costs," NBER Working Papers 6748, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Weinhold, Ines & Gurtner, Sebastian, 2014. "Understanding shortages of sufficient health care in rural areas," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 118(2), pages 201-214.
    4. Samuel V. Scarpino & Giovanni Petri, 2019. "On the predictability of infectious disease outbreaks," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 10(1), pages 1-8, December.
    5. Conor Keegan & Aoife Brick & Brendan Walsh & Adele Bergin & James Eighan & Maev‐Ann Wren, 2019. "How many beds? Capacity implications of hospital care demand projections in the Irish hospital system, 2015‐2030," International Journal of Health Planning and Management, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(1), pages 569-582, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Rodney P. Jones, 2022. "A Model to Compare International Hospital Bed Numbers, including a Case Study on the Role of Indigenous People on Acute ‘Occupied’ Bed Demand in Australian States," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-27, September.
    2. Apurva Jain & Swapnil Rayal, 2023. "Managing medical equipment capacity with early spread of infection in a region," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 32(5), pages 1415-1432, May.

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