Advisory Board December 15, 2025
According to a new study published in Pediatrics, the number of U.S. hospitals offering pediatric services has decreased significantly over the last 20 years — a change that is expected to increase barriers to care, especially in underserved communities.
Fewer hospitals offer pediatric services
For the study, researchers used data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Kids’ Inpatient Database to identify U.S. acute care hospitals offering pediatric services between 2003 and 2022. Pediatric capability level ranged from 1 to 4, depending on how many pediatric services they offered. Level 1 hospitals offered the broadest range of services, while level 4 hospitals only offered minimal services.
A mean of 3,927 hospitals per year were included in the analysis. In...
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