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Article: OCCUPANCY RATES GIVE HOSPITALS PLANNING TOOL.(LIFE & LEISURE)
- Article from:
- Albany Times Union (Albany, NY)
- Article date:
- November 16, 1993
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1993 Albany Times Union. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: RICK KARLIN - Staff writer
Hospitals in northeastern New York had an average occupancy rate of 71 percent during 1992. To health care planners, that means the region's hospitals, like those throughout most of the nation, may have more aggregate beds than they need.
But hospital operators say they require some of the excess capacity to handle unforeseen disease outbreaks and seasonal sicknesses, such as winter flu or pneumonia. And they viewed the occupancy rates as indicative of a long-term trend toward shorter hospital stays and more ambulatory treatments, in which patients don't remain overnight.
"There is probably some excess ...