Pediatric Bed Capacity, Bed Strain, and Load Imbalance During the 2022 Respiratory Viral Season

During the 2022 respiratory viral season, did hospital referral regions experience pediatric bed strain and load imbalance?In this cross-sectional study of 254 hospital referral regions, a mean of 112 (44%) experienced bed strain (>85% bed occupancy) per week. In 123 regions with 2 or more hospitals with pediatric beds, a mean of 82 (67%) per week experienced load imbalance (≥1 hospital with ≥85% beds occupied, ≥1 hospital with <85% beds occupied, and ≥20% difference in bed occupancy between hospitals).These findings suggest that load imbalance was common during the 2022 respiratory viral season; load-balancing strategies may prevent bed capacity overload in future pediatric surges.

Corresponding Author: Nadir Ijaz, MD, MHS, Section of Critical Care Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Yale University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar St, Building LLCI, Room 305, PO Box 208064, New Haven, CT 06520 (nadir.ijaz@yale.edu).

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