Journal of General Internal Medicine

, Volume 33, Issue 3, pp 367–369 | Cite as

Baby Boomers and Beds: a Demographic Challenge for the Ages

Perspective
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Abstract

The United States is facing a significant demographic transition, with about 10,000 baby boomers turning age 65 each day. At the same time, the nation is experiencing a similarly striking transition in hospital capacity, as the supply of hospital beds has declined in recent decades. The juxtaposition of population aging and hospital capacity portends a potentially widening divergence between supply and demand for hospital care. We provide a closer look at current hospital capacity and a rethinking of the future role of hospital beds in meeting the needs of an aging population.

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Notes

Acknowledgements

Supported by a grant from the Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health (NIH Director’s Early Independence Award, 1DP5OD024564-01, to Dr. Song). The authors are grateful for comments and suggestions from Jonathan Skinner, PhD, Elliott Fisher, MD, MPH., Ellen Meara, PhD, and Samir Soneji, PhD, of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice on an earlier draft of this article.

Compliance with Ethical Standards

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they do not have a conflict of interest.

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Copyright information

© Society of General Internal Medicine 2017

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of Health Care Policy Harvard Medical SchoolBostonUSA
  2. 2.Department of MedicineMassachusetts General HospitalBostonUSA
  3. 3.Partners HealthCareBostonUSA

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