A growing crisis is looming over the US healthcare system, with experts warning that hospitals are on the brink of a disaster by 2032. A recent investigation has revealed that US hospital occupancy rates are at an all-time high, with hundreds of thousands of people potentially dying as a result.
The average national hospital occupancy rate has increased from 64% in the decade leading up to the Covid-19 pandemic to 75%, with some predictions suggesting it could rise another 10 percentage points by 2032. This would put general hospital beds at an unsustainable 85% capacity, leading to prolonged waiting times, medication errors, and other adverse events.
According to Dr. Richard Leuchter, lead investigator of the study, a national hospital occupancy rate of 85% or higher could result in tens to hundreds of thousands of excess American deaths each year. The CDC has already reported that a national ICU occupancy rate of 75% leads to 12,000 excess deaths two weeks later.
The main cause of this crisis is not an increase in hospitalizations, but rather a significant reduction in the number of available hospital beds – a decline of 16% since the pre-pandemic era. The researchers attribute this largely to the loss of beds due to private equity firms buying and selling hospitals at a loss.
To mitigate this crisis, experts recommend reforming hospital reimbursement schemes, regulating private equity involvement, addressing staff shortages, and expanding healthcare professional pipelines. They also highlight the recent government decision to freeze new visas for international nurses as exacerbating the staffing shortage.
The consequences of inaction are dire, with approximately 2,200 rural hospitals across the US at risk of closure due to financial burdens. A report from Chartis found that half of rural hospitals operate at a loss, and Texas is predicted to have the highest number of hospital closures – with 75% of its rural hospitals set to close and 28 more at risk of immediate closure.
The experts’ warning serves as a stark reminder of the urgent need for reform in the US healthcare system to prevent a potential disaster by 2032.
Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-14418657/disaster-hit-2032-hospitals-usa.html