WASHINGTON, October 20, 2005 - America's hospitals are in a fragile state, facing rising demand and constrained capacity, according to a new report released by the American Hospital Association (AHA). The report, entitled "The State of America's Hospitals: Taking the Pulse," reflects the responses from a 2005 survey of hospital leaders.

Some of the key findings of this report include:

A growing workforce shortage. The supply of hospital caregivers, particularly nurses, continues to fall far short of the demand for care. Responding hospitals reported a vacancy rate of more than 8 percent for all RN positions, which translates into 109,000 vacant positions for RNs alone.

Rising demand and constrained capacity. Hospital beds, particularly those in urban and teaching hospitals, are often "at" or "over" capacity, causing hospitals to divert ambulance patients to other facilities. More than 70 percent of responding urban and teaching hospitals reported time on diversion in the last 12 months.

Skyrocketing professional liability insurance costs. For nearly a third of hospitals in crisis states, professional liability expenses have risen by more than 50 percent over the past two years, with an average increase of 31 percent over the same period of time.

Increases in hospital spending on pharmaceuticals, medical supplies and devices. Hospitals continue to experience double-digit increases in costs for pharmaceutical products and an increase of 7 to 9 percent for medical supplies and devices.

A growing number of physician-owned limited service facilities. These so-called "specialty" hospitals threaten access to care for the broader community by siphoning off resources from the community hospital. And despite the moratorium on limited service hospitals in place at the time of the survey, 20 percent of respondents reported a limited service facility under development in their area.

"A healthy and vibrant hospital is the key to a healthy community," said AHA President Dick Davidson. "This report paints a clear picture of the difficult environment many hospitals face as they continue their mission of caring for their communities. Every day, we're working with government and others in health care to address these challenges and to ensure that the quality health care hospitals deliver remains available to the patients we serve."

700 hospitals responded to the survey. Copies of the report are available on the AHA website, www.aha.org.

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