Inpatient beds, particularly monitored beds, have been in short supply since September, although the census dropped for several days in the middle of February.

"Overall it looks as if the increased volume isn't going away," said Gunderson in a Feb. 23 interview. "So we are looking at all possibilities and analyzing inpatient and outpatient populations to make recommendations about what moves can be made in order to increase bed availability."

Gunderson said Malinda Mitchell, senior vice president and chief operating officer for adult services at Stanford, is leading an ad hoc task force that is exploring long-term options in an open, flexible manner with no preconceptions about what the solutions should be.

The reasons for the increase, which appears to be a Bay Area-wide phenomenon, are unclear. But Gunderson noted that the longevity of the trend reduces the likelihood that most of the increase was caused by the flu season or other seasonal variations.

From Sept. 1 through Jan. 31, the hospital's total number of inpatient days (the number of patients multiplied by the number of days they spent as inpatients) totaled 48,733 compared with 45,581 for the same period last year.

Patient days in surgical and cardiac postsurgical units (E-2 and NICU) were 5,757 from Sept. 1 through Jan. 31, compared with 4,998 for the same period the year before.

Patient acuity was slightly higher this year, as measured by a small increase in the average length of stay during the period, which rose slightly from 5.27 last year to 5.29 this year. [See chart]

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