Michigan hospitals provide more than 25,000 inpatient beds across more than 150 acute care facilities. During 2022, more than 1.3 million Michiganders were hospitalized in Michigan and surrounding states. The figures below describe the state’s hospital capacity, patient activity, workforce, community role, and selected 2024 facility measures.
Contents
- Michigan hospital capacity and demand
- Patient care and hospital activity
- The hospital workforce
- Hospitals and communities
- Selected 2024 county and facility comparisons
- What occupancy and length of stay show
Michigan hospital capacity and demand
The Michigan Governor’s proclamation of November 1, 2025, reports more than 25,000 inpatient beds in more than 150 acute care facilities. It also reports that more than 1.3 million Michiganders were hospitalized in Michigan and surrounding states during 2022. These are statewide capacity and utilization reference points, while the facility measures later in this article are from the 2024 Michigan CON Annual Survey Report 021.
The proclamation says Michigan hospitals operate at higher occupancy levels in a number of facilities because of an aging population and a shrinking number of inpatient health care professionals. It also identifies efficient capacity management as a function that can reduce patients’ length of stay. Occupancy, staffing, and length of stay therefore describe related but distinct parts of hospital operations: occupancy concerns use of available beds, staffing affects the ability to operate those beds, and length of stay measures time spent receiving inpatient care.
The Michigan Health & Hospital Association (MHA) describes a typical three-month data-collection period as including 300,000 admissions and 8.8 million visits to Michigan hospitals. Its 4Cs of the Data Cycle says the association collects data four times a year from nearly 175 entities. The admissions and visits figures are not interchangeable: admissions refer to patients entering inpatient care, while the broader visits measure includes hospital activity beyond admissions.
Patient care and hospital activity
The MHA Community Impact Report 2024 records several statewide measures of hospital service. Michigan hospitals treated 4.4 million people in emergency departments and admitted more than 986,000 patients for care and treatment. The same report records an average length of stay of 5.5 days, 37 million outpatient visits, 96,700 or more babies delivered, and 5.3 million inpatient care days.
These measures show the breadth of hospital contact across different settings. Emergency department treatment captures urgent care encounters, outpatient visits capture care without an inpatient admission, and inpatient care days capture the total time patients spent in hospital beds. Births are reported separately because maternity care represents a distinct service line within the overall hospital system.
The MHA report also describes health education and guidance programs that served more than 6.3 million people, with $33.98 million invested. Healthcare support services served more than 1.3 million people and represented more than $61.4 million invested. Community outreach served more than 260,000 people and represented $14.7 million invested.
Community building activities served more than 3.8 million people and represented more than $8.3 million invested. Health professions programs served more than 93,900 people and represented $663.4 million invested. Community health and clinical research represented more than $117 million invested. These amounts are reported investments associated with the named program categories; they should not be added together as a single statewide spending total without additional accounting definitions.
The hospital workforce
Michigan healthcare organizations provided nearly 572,000 direct healthcare jobs in fiscal year 2022, according to the MHA Community Impact Report 2024. Michigan hospitals provided roughly 217,000 of those jobs. Direct healthcare jobs in Michigan disbursed nearly $77 billion in wages, salaries, and benefits during fiscal year 2022.
The report says Michigan hospitals helped fill 61,000 total positions in 2023 through recruitment, retention, and training efforts. Hospital vacancies fell by 29% in 2023, leaving 19,000 statewide job vacancies after that reduction. More than 13,000 nurses were hired in 2023, and nursing vacancies fell by 44% in the same year.
More than 95% of all Michigan acute-care inpatient hospitals responded to the workforce survey used for these findings. That response rate indicates broad participation in the survey, but the reported vacancy and hiring measures still describe the survey’s defined population and reporting period rather than every possible healthcare employer in the state.
The workforce figures help explain why capacity management is an operational issue. The Governor’s November 1, 2025, proclamation links higher occupancy in some facilities with an aging population and a shrinking number of inpatient health care professionals. The MHA workforce report, meanwhile, records substantial hiring and vacancy reductions in 2023. Together, these sources show both pressure on inpatient staffing and measurable workforce activity during the periods they cover.
Hospitals and communities
The MHA Community Impact Report 2024 represents 162 member hospitals. Its membership includes 129 community hospitals, 21 health systems, 79 teaching hospitals, 7 public hospitals, and 6 children’s hospitals. It also includes 58 rural hospitals, 35 critical access hospitals, and 114 urban hospitals.
These categories overlap. For example, a hospital can be both rural and a critical access hospital, or both urban and a teaching hospital. The counts should therefore be read as descriptions of membership categories, not as mutually exclusive portions of one total.
The community role extends beyond inpatient treatment. In the MHA report, health education and guidance reached more than 6.3 million people, community building activities reached more than 3.8 million, healthcare support services reached more than 1.3 million, and community outreach reached more than 260,000. Health professions programs reached more than 93,900 people, while community health and clinical research represented more than $117 million invested.
The report’s economic measures place hospitals within the broader care system. Nearly 572,000 direct healthcare jobs were provided by Michigan healthcare organizations in fiscal year 2022, including roughly 217,000 hospital jobs. The nearly $77 billion in wages, salaries, and benefits associated with direct healthcare jobs applies to the healthcare-job measure reported for Michigan, not only to hospital employees.
Selected 2024 county and facility comparisons
The 2024 Michigan CON Annual Survey Report 021 provides a more detailed view of licensed capacity, patient days, discharges, average daily census, occupancy, and length of stay in selected counties and facilities.
| County or facility | Licensed beds | Discharges | Occupancy | Length of stay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genesee County, 4 facilities | 1,151 | 48,882 | 62.9% | 5.4 days |
| Grand Traverse County, 1 facility | 425 | 20,706 | 65.8% | 4.9 days |
| Kalamazoo County, 2 facilities | 806 | 37,775 | 59.8% | 4.7 days |
| Kent County, 7 facilities | 1,955 | 88,786 | 69.0% | 5.6 days |
| Ingham County, 4 facilities | 915 | 37,448 | 60.9% | 5.4 days |
Genesee County, identified as county 25 in the report, had 4 facilities, 1,151 licensed beds, 421,266 licensed bed days, 264,809 patient days of care, 48,882 discharges, an average daily census of 723.5, 62.9% occupancy, and a 5.4-day length of stay. Hurley Medical Center had 383 licensed beds, 140,178 licensed bed days, 95,937 patient days of care, 17,230 discharges, an average daily census of 262.1, 68.4% occupancy, and a 5.6-day length of stay. McLaren Flint had 342 licensed beds, 125,172 licensed bed days, 81,926 patient days of care, 14,752 discharges, an average daily census of 223.8, 65.5% occupancy, and a 5.6-day length of stay.
SSH - Flint had 26 licensed beds, 9,516 licensed bed days, 7,030 patient days of care, 269 discharges, an average daily census of 19.2, 73.9% occupancy, and a 26.1-day length of stay. Ascension Genesys Hospital had 400 licensed beds, 146,400 licensed bed days, 79,916 patient days of care, 16,631 discharges, an average daily census of 218.3, 54.6% occupancy, and a 4.8-day length of stay.
Grand Traverse County, county 28, had 1 facility with 425 licensed beds, 155,550 licensed bed days, 102,400 patient days of care, 20,706 discharges, an average daily census of 279.8, 65.8% occupancy, and a 4.9-day length of stay. Munson Medical Center had the same reported figures because it was the county’s listed facility.
Kalamazoo County, county 39, had 2 facilities, 806 licensed beds, 294,996 licensed bed days, 176,429 patient days of care, 37,775 discharges, an average daily census of 482.0, 59.8% occupancy, and a 4.7-day length of stay. Ascension Borgess Hospital had 372 licensed beds, 136,152 licensed bed days, 56,356 patient days of care, 12,125 discharges, an average daily census of 154.0, 41.4% occupancy, and a 4.6-day length of stay. Bronson Methodist Hospital had 434 licensed beds, 158,844 licensed bed days, 120,073 patient days of care, 25,650 discharges, an average daily census of 328.1, 75.6% occupancy, and a 4.7-day length of stay.
What occupancy and length of stay show
Kent County, county 41, reported 7 facilities, 1,955 licensed beds, 715,530 licensed bed days, 493,866 patient days of care, 88,786 discharges, an average daily census of 1,349.4, 69.0% occupancy, and a 5.6-day length of stay. Corewell Health Grand Rapids - Butterworth had 876 licensed beds, 320,616 licensed bed days, 256,621 patient days of care, 44,649 discharges, an average daily census of 701.2, 80.0% occupancy, and a 5.7-day length of stay.
Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital had 139 licensed beds, 50,874 licensed bed days, 43,271 patient days of care, 2,873 discharges, an average daily census of 118.2, 85.1% occupancy, and a 15.1-day length of stay. Select Specialty Hosp - Spectrum Health had 36 licensed beds, 13,176 licensed bed days, 11,235 patient days of care, 365 discharges, an average daily census of 30.7, 85.3% occupancy, and a 30.8-day length of stay.
Ingham County, county 33, reported 4 facilities, 915 licensed beds, 334,890 licensed bed days, 203,892 patient days of care, 37,448 discharges, an average daily census of 557.1, 60.9% occupancy, and a 5.4-day length of stay. Edward W. Sparrow Hospital had 573 licensed beds, 209,718 licensed bed days, 147,155 patient days of care, 26,416 discharges, an average daily census of 402.1, 70.2% occupancy, and a 5.6-day length of stay. Sparrow Specialty Hospital had 30 licensed beds, 10,980 licensed bed days, 9,820 patient days of care, 368 discharges, an average daily census of 26.8, 89.4% occupancy, and a 26.7-day length of stay.
The 2024 facility figures show why averages need context. The listed general hospitals report lengths of stay from 4.6 to 5.7 days, while specialty and rehabilitation facilities report much longer stays, including 15.1 days, 26.1 days, 26.7 days, and 30.8 days. Occupancy also varies across the listed facilities, from 41.4% at Ascension Borgess Hospital to 89.4% at Sparrow Specialty Hospital. These are reported 2024 measures for the named counties and facilities, not forecasts of future hospital use.