COVID-19: How Many ICU Beds and Ventilators Do We Really Have?

Here is the most recent data from the Society of Critical Care Medicine

Photo by Daan Stevens on Unsplash

There has been much written in the news media about the capacity of the U.S. healthcare system. A frequently cited number is that the U.S. has 2.8 hospital beds per 1,000 people. Yet, do we know exactly how many ICU beds we really have? The Society of Critical Care Medicine — the professional society of critical care physicians like me — has just published a report.

How many ICU beds are there?

Based on a proprietary database maintained by the American Hospital Association, the data indicate that there are 5256 AHA-registered community hospitals in the United States. Of these, 2704 (51.4%) deliver ICU services and have at least 10 acute care beds and at least one ICU bed. They have 534,964 acute care beds, including 96,596 ICU beds. There are 68,558 adult beds (medical-surgical 46,795, cardiac 14,445, and other ICU 7318), 5137 pediatric ICU beds, and 22,901 neonatal ICU beds. Additionally, there are 25,157 step-down beds, and 1183 burn beds.