HOW MANY HOSPITALS ARE THERE IN THE US?
Hospitals are one of the pillars of modern healthcare facilities. These healthcare facilities are known to provide treatment for patients. In hospitals, there are numerous healthcare practitioners that are willing to care for individuals and lead them to the path of healthy living.
Most of the hospitals in the United States are non-profit health facilities. The rest are divided between for-profit healthcare facilities and those funded by local and state government. There are different ways hospitals are funded in the US. Some of these ways include charities, insurance, various organizations and so on.
Since 1975, Statista reports that the number of hospitals in the US has reduced drastically. The research conducted by American Hospital Association (AHA) made this discovery while nothing that there is a huge margin in the numbers.
The United States of America is known to have a developed healthcare system. So, it is no surprise of emphasis is laid on the number of hospitals that ate available in the country. It is important to know the number of hospitals that are present in the United States as this can help you make the right choice as regards health insurance plan. In settling for an insurance plan, it is necessary that you get the right plan that will cover for health providers in your area. In this way, you will know the hospitals that are in your environment before you choose a plan.
The American Hospital Association always conduct an annual review of the number of hospitals that are available in America. In its 2021 hospital analysis, the AHA posits that there are a total of 6090 hospitals in the United States. The hospital analysis includes expenses, revenue, personnel, community health indicators and so much more.
According to the AHA analysis, the number of United States community hospitals are 5,141. The US community hospitals comprise of Nongovernment not-for-profit hospitals, investor-owned hospitals (profit-based) and lastly state and local government hospitals. The total number of federal hospitals in the country is 208 while the Nonfederal psychiatric hospital is 208. The last type of hospitals collated by the American Hospital Association (AHA) is 116.
With the knowledge of the number of hospitals that are in the country, it is essential to explain some of these hospitals and their modus operandi. Community hospitals refer to nonfederal and special hospitals. Special hospital in this category are specialized in gynaecology and also perform obstetrics function. These hospitals can also be regarded as academic medical centers and some teaching hospitals that are considered nonfederal care centers. However, it is important to mote that hospitals that are not accessible by other members of the public such as prison hospital do not fall under this category.
The ‘other hospitals’ as grouped by AHA refer to nonfederal hospitals that perform long term functions. These types of hospitals are always found in the environs of an institution such as a prison hospitals and even a school infirmary. Hospitals that re classified under long term care are categorized using various methods. This presupposes that such hospitals include hospitals that permit people to stay for about 30 days and even more.
The number of rural community hospitals in the United States are 1,805 while urban community hospitals are 3,336. The presence of rural-based communities makes it easy for residents in such environment to make use of the hospital systems for their health needs. In this way they are also granted equal opportunity to access healthcare facilities as their counterparts in the urban region. AHA classifies a hospital system to include the multihospital or a diverse hospital system. The multihospital system is defined as a combination of two or several hospitals that are owned, managed and even leased by a central organization. The affairs of such hospitals are controlled by another body that is considered an independent structure. The number of community hospitals that are found in a system as described by AHA are 3,453. These community hospitals also have a total of 798,821 staffed beds in them.
The various hospitals in the United States are known to perform different functions and specialized duties. Some of their specialized duties include neonatal care, burn care, paediatric care amongst others. These functions can be comfortably performed by the hospital body with trained healthcare practitioners trusted to discharge their duties effectively.
Interestingly, the number of hospitals in different states differ from one environment to another. But, it comes as no surprise to discover that states with larger number of hospitals are those that are most populated. eHealth states that Texas has the largest number of hospitals because of its population. The state has about 528 hospitals which makes up about 10% of the total number of hospitals that are available in the country. On the other hand, smaller regions like Rhode Island and Washington only have 11 hospitals in their communities. This explains that the population in a community determines the number of hospitals that can be seen in such environment.
The number of hospitals in the United States provide healthcare services of various forms to its population. These healthcare facilities are structured to ensure that the residents of the US are healthy and free from any type of ailment. It is safe to say that the large number of hospitals in the United States provide a clue to the quality of services that is provided by healthcare practitioners.
Considering the number of hospitals in the US, it is small wonder that these hospitals make up a large percentage of the healthcare expenditure in the United States. While this true, hospitals in the US has also contributed largely to economic development. The healthcare sector is one of The United States largest employer of labor. This is so because the healthcare centers employ millions of citizens in its various establishments. In addition, the number of hospitals in the United States are a pointer to the effort that is generated towards promoting good health and the health needs of its citizens.
https://www.aha.org/statistics/fast-facts-us-hospitals
https://www.statista.com/statistics/185843/number-of-all-hospitals-in-the-us-since-2001/
