Development of bed potential and occupancy in hospitals of East Germany

: In the former GDR, in-patient treatment had been performed mainly by governmental hospitals. Between 1950 and 1989 the number of hospitals was reduced from 1060 to 539 by closing uneconomic small hospitals or by combining them with bigger ones. During the same period the number of beds decreased from 197,219 to 163,305. Finally, 98.2 bed accommodations existed per 10,000 inhabitants. Information is given on personnel, financing and on the structural status of the hospitals. In-patients discharges of the hospitals were recorded by uniform documentation over about 20 years. It was therefore possible to evaluate in-patient morbidity.