title: Capacity crisis. The U.S. health care system is bulging with hospital beds--but emotions run high when talks turn to cutting the excess.
abstract: Closing down hospital beds is a tough proposition all around; no executive looks forward to the operational, financial, human resources and community relations issues involved. But the forward march of managed care is forcing the issue. In an overbedded health care system, executives are struggling to come up with answers to the capacity crisis.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cerne
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Montague
mesh_terms: D001509:Bed Occupancy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D003625:Data Collection; D004465:Economic Competition; D006271:Health Facility Closure / Q000191:economics*; D006273:Health Facility Merger; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006742:Hospital Bed Capacity; D006754:Hospital Restructuring; D006764:Hospitals, Community / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D014481:United States