Those numbers really don’t tell the tale. The problem with looking at raw bed numbers is that all kinds of not so good pressure valve mechanisms go into effect

Those numbers really don’t tell the tale. The problem with looking at raw bed numbers is that all kinds of not so good pressure valve mechanisms go into effect as bed capacity drops, such as: * cancellation of elective and non-urgent surgeries, including back surgeries * longer more intense hours for staff * shipping patients to other hospitals, often out of state * huge spikes in ER wait times My personal experience knowing people at multiple levels in health care is that hospitals legitimately have been struggling with capacity issues every time that COVID spiked over the past two years.