National Hospital Bed Plan 2026–2028 approved by the Government: phased reduction of around 14,000 beds and focus on day care and outpatient services

The Government approved on Wednesday the National Hospital Bed Plan for 2026–2028, which aims to optimize the number of beds for inpatient care and to develop alternative medical services, in the context of suboptimal use of existing capacity.

Low occupancy rates and oversized capacity

Data presented by the Ministry of Health indicate incomplete use of inpatient beds: approximately 51% for acute patients and 60% for chronic patients. At the same time, Romania significantly exceeds the European average in terms of bed numbers, with approximately 724–728 beds per 100,000 inhabitants, compared to 511 at EU level.

Interim Minister of Health Cseke Attila emphasized that maintaining a large number of unused beds leads to inefficiencies in the financing of medical services, given that contracting also takes into account bed capacity.

Reduction of approximately 14,000 beds by 2028

The approved plan предусматриes a phased reduction of around 14,000 inpatient beds, without affecting patients’ access to medical services. The measure does not apply to beds dedicated to palliative care, prison hospitals, or facilities for security measures, where occupancy rates are close to 100%.

At the end of 2025, 116,650 beds were under contract in the system, of which 94.8% were in public hospitals and 5.2% in the private sector.

Paradigm shift: fewer hospitalizations, more alternative services

The reform aims to reduce avoidable hospitalizations and to shift towards more efficient medical services such as day care hospitalization and outpatient care. This direction is supported by recent trends: in 2024, around 6 million patients received day care services, representing a 15% increase compared to the previous year.

Authorities consider that the development of these services, together with investments in infrastructure and technology (including through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan), can offset the reduction in inpatient beds.

“In recent years, a significant decrease in occupancy rates has been observed, including in county hospitals. Apart from the Emergency Hospital in Bucharest, none of the emergency hospitals outside the capital exceeds a 70% occupancy rate. One of the financing mechanisms in the healthcare system takes into account the number of beds. It is clearly inefficient to contract services for 100 beds when the actual occupancy is around 50–60 beds, or even lower,” the Minister of Health said after Wednesday’s meeting (the minister’s intervention can be watched on YouTube, from minute 18:07).

Implementation based on performance indicators

The distribution of beds at county level will be established by order of the Minister of Health, based on data provided by the National Health Insurance House and occupancy indicators at hospital and county level.

The National Hospital Bed Plan 2026–2028 underwent the public consultation process starting March 20, 2026 and will enter into force on May 1, 2026.