Hospital at Home: Amid hospital capacity crisis, OHSU offers an alternative

Program provides virtual alternative to in-hospital care; after launching during the COVID-19 pandemic, clinical leaders see opportunity for growth. With brick-and-mortar hospitals at or near capacity, Oregon Health & Science University is ramping up a new service to provide patients with hospital-level care within the comfort of their own home. Hospital at Home currently has about eight patients admitted at any one time. Even though that’s a small fraction of OHSU’s overall capacity of 576 licensed hospital beds, the program has an important impact on OHSU’s ability to care for all patients inside the hospital and out. At the same time, clinical leaders describe the response from patients as overwhelmingly positive.