California has 512 hospitals licensed to provide care in the state. Of those, 88% are general acute care (GAC) hospitals that treat patients for relatively brief but severe episodes of illness or trauma, and perform surgery. In 2007, the GAC hospitals discharged over 3 million inpatients and cared for 42 million outpatients, including more than 10 million emergency department visits.

This report, part of CHCF's California Health Care Almanac, examines the state's GAC facilities, including their bed supply and capacity, geographic distribution, ownership type, utilization, and financial health. Selected quality measures and data on their readiness to withstand serious earthquakes are presented as well.

Key findings include:

• The number of hospitals and beds decreased from 2001 to 2007 — a period of continued growth in California's population.
• Californians age 80 and older are the highest users of hospital services, with 414 discharges per 1,000 population, compared to 91 per 1,000 for those age 50 to 59.
• Nonprofit hospitals are better off financially than their for-profit counterparts.
• Charity care provided by California hospitals rose 23% between 2001 and 2007.
• The seven largest hospital systems represent more than one-third of hospitals and licensed beds in the state.
• More than 200 acute care hospitals still have buildings that are in danger of collapse during an earthquake and must be replaced by 2013.

The complete report is available under Document Downloads.