Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
hospital occupancy

hospital occupancy

3.8
The part of hospital beds used by patients at a certain time
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : ocupación hospitalaria
  • The hospital occupancy reached an all-time high during the flu season last winter.

Examples

  • Public health agencies track hospital occupancy to monitor the impact of infectious disease outbreaks.

  • Low hospital occupancy rates can indicate unused capacity and financial challenges for healthcare providers.

  • The hospital occupancy rate has increased this month.

  • High hospital occupancy can lead to longer wait times.

  • The hospital's occupancy rate was at 90 percent, indicating a high demand for patient care.

  • During the winter months, the occupancy of the hospital typically increases due to seasonal illnesses.

  • Hospital administrators closely monitor occupancy levels to ensure they can meet the needs of all patients.

Synonyms

occupancy
vshospital occupancy
12 3.9

The number of people in a place at one time

measures the proportion of beds filled rather than raw headcount
occupancy rate
vshospital occupancy
  • Specialized
2 4.1

The percentage of available rooms or units that are occupied

applies to beds used for patient care rather than rooms in hotels

How Full

full
∞ 1.0
hospital occupancy
  • Specialized
3.8
empty
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

hospital occupancy singular
hospital occupancies plural

Morphology

hospital + occupancy

The meaning 'proportion of hospital beds that are occupied' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'hospital' (medical facility) with 'occupancy' (use or filling of a space), yielding the straightforward compositional sense 'occupancy of the hospital'. This noun–noun/possessive composition is common and cross-linguistically intuitive, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer the MWE meaning (context may only be needed to specify 'beds' rather than other hospital spaces).

Etymology

Hospital occupancy paints a simple picture: the word hospital is the place with beds and occupancy means how full something is. So it refers to how many hospital beds are in use at a time, or 'how full' the hospital is.