Hospital Occupancy

Provides an update on current overall hospital occupancy levels and how patients hospitalized with COVID-19 or influenza are contributing to inpatient and intensive care unit bed use.

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Hospital Occupancy Update:
  • Inpatient and ICU bed occupancy remains stable among all patients, and for patients with COVID-19 or influenza, when compared with the previous week. Inpatient and ICU bed occupancy values are also lower when compared to peak occupancy, which occurred in January 2022 (all patients and COVID-19 patients) and December 2022 (influenza patients).

Reported on Friday, October 20th, 2023.

Hospital Bed Occupancy

Percentage of inpatient and intensive care unit beds that are filled (7-day average), overall and by patients with COVID-19 or influenza.

  • Source: Hospital capacity and occupancy data reported to CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN).
  • As of December 15, 2022, hospital capacity and occupancy data are required to be reported to CDC’s NHSN, which monitors national and local trends in healthcare system stress, capacity, and community disease levels for approximately 6,000 hospitals in the United States. Data reported by hospitals to NHSN represent aggregated counts and include metrics capturing information specific to hospital capacity, occupancy, hospitalizations, and admissions. Prior to December 15, 2022, hospitals reported data directly to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) or via a state submission for collection in the HHS Unified Hospital Data Surveillance System (UHDSS). More information on the transition to the NHSN system can be found here: http://www.cy118119.com/nhsn/covid19/hospital-reporting.html.
  • Data are preliminary and subject to change as more data become available.
  • Hospital capacity and occupancy data displayed represent facility-level data reported by U.S hospitals in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and all U.S. territories. Many hospital subtypes, including acute care and critical access hospitals, as well as Veterans Administration, Defense Health Agency, and Indian Health Service hospitals, are included in the metric calculations displayed. Psychiatric, rehabilitation, and religious non-medical hospital types are excluded from calculations.
  • Bed type definitions:
    • Inpatient: Total number of all staffed inpatient beds in the facility, that are currently set-up, staffed and able to be used for a patient, including all overflow, observation, and active surge/expansion beds used for inpatients, ICU beds, and any surge/hallway/overflow beds that are open for use for a patient, regardless of whether they are occupied or available.
    • Intensive care unit (ICU): Total number of ICU beds that are currently set-up, staffed and are or could be used for a patient, including occupied and unoccupied ICU beds, regardless of the unit on which the bed is housed.
  • Metric calculations (all calculated as 7-day averages for weeks defined as Sunday – Saturday):
    • % of inpatient or ICU beds occupied by all patients: Average number of patients hospitalized (adult and pediatric, for any condition) divided by the average number of inpatient or ICU beds for a given week
    • % of inpatient or ICU beds occupied by COVID-19 patients: Average number of patients hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 (total, including adult and pediatric) divided by the average number of inpatient or ICU beds for a given week
    • % of inpatient or ICU beds occupied by influenza patients: Average number of patients hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed influenza (total, including adult and pediatric) divided by the average number of inpatient or ICU beds for a given week
  • Hospital occupancy for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is not currently reported to NHSN, so are not included in this visualization.
  • Full details on NHSN hospital data reporting guidance, including data elements and definitions, can be found here: https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/covid-19-faqs-hospitals-hospital-laboratory-acute-care-facility-data-reporting.pdf [724 KB, 57 pages].

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