Hospitals

The 2,600 hospitals in the US provide acute care and surgeries for patients on either a scheduled or emergency basis. Most hospitals are considered community hospitals, and are operated by non-profit, for-profit, or state or local government organizations.

Conflict with Insurers

While hospitals depend on private insurers for revenue, both groups struggle to agree on how best to treat patients.

Labor Shortages

Hospitals struggle with shortages of nurses, medical technicians, pharmacists, and other clinical workers.

Oct 3, 2026 - Patients Give Billing Processes Low Ratings

• No US state scores even 2 out of 5 on patient sentiment about medical billing, according to a survey conducted by patient-experience intelligence company Tellex. Nationally, billing scored 1.75 out of 5, and 84% of what patients wrote about it was negative. California posted the best score at 1.87, while Wyoming came in lowest at 1.61. Overall patient satisfaction told a very different story, with every state scoring 3.79 or higher.
• Merger and acquisition brokers are seeing an uptick in interest from hospitals as health system leaders prepare for a projected shortfall in federal funding, according to STAT news. Large systems are increasingly getting calls from smaller ones looking for a partner. The number of deal announcements has been increasing since the passage of the Medicaid cuts in the Trump administration’s 2025 tax bill. The dynamic could change the landscape of providers and the balance of power in the US health system and make care more expensive and harder to reach for patients nationwide if the larger systems choose to offer some services in fewer locations, according to STAT. Care could also become more expensive and even harder to reach if a hospital shut down entirely, however.
• Fewer than half of Americans (49%) can consistently afford the care and medications they need, according to the latest West Health-Gallup Healthcare Affordability Index. Hospitals may be negatively impacted by decreasing health care affordability. The share of adults who are “cost secure” has decreased from a 2022 peak of 61%, and an estimated 2.8 million more people fell out of that category between 2024 and 2025 alone. Cost insecurity now reaches groups long considered insulated: just 61% of adults 65 and older are cost secure, down from 73% in 2021.
• The Producer Price Index for general medical and surgical hospitals increased 3.68% year over year in August, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. (BLS). Hospital industry employment increased slightly and average wages for nonsupervisory employees decreased slightly during the first seven months of 2026, according to the BLS.

Industry size & Structure

The average hospital employs about 2,400 workers and generates $587 million in annual revenue.

• There are about 2,600 hospital firms in the US with about $1.5 trillion in annual revenue and employing 6.21million people.
• Most hospitals are considered community hospitals, and are operated by non-profit, for-profit, or state or local government organizations.
• A typical hospital has 100 to 300 beds and serves 5,800 to 11,200 patients annually.
• The largest US hospital companies include Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), Adventist Health, and Tenet Healthcare Corporation.
• The average length of stay in a hospital is 4-5 days.
• Hospital occupancy averaged about 75% in 2023 and 2024, up from the average 64% capacity during the decade before the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The majority of hospital employees are dedicated to patient care (doctors, nurses, aides and clinical workers). Other professions within a hospital are office/administrative support, cleaning and maintenance, management, food service, and community and social services.