An increase in the number of seniors in San Diego County will likely lead to a shortage of hospital beds by the year 2030. A new report from the California HealthCare Foundation says aging boomers will put a strain on the system. KPBS Reporter Kenny Goldberg has more.
There are a total of just under 54-hundred beds in San Diego County hospitals. The report predicts by 2030, local hospitals will add less than 200 beds…while the population will grow by one-point-two million people.
Mary Beth Shannon is with the California HealthCare Foundation. She says seniors will make up about a quarter of San Diego's population in 2030.
Mary Beth Shannon : So we'll have a tremendous growth in the senior population, and particularly those who are 85 years and over, who consume a lot of healthcare services and hospital services.
The report says some parts of the state may suffer hospital bed shortages as soon as 2020. The affected areas include the Inland Empire and Sacramento County.
Kenny Goldberg, KPBS News.
