Short-stay hospitals, which provide acute inpatient care, are the heart of the hospital infrastructure that serves over 62 million Americans who have Medicare Part A insurance coverage.  Short-stay hospitals account for 56% of the hospitals, and over 83% of the hospital beds, that participate in the Medicare program.  

As of the calendar year 2020, the U.S. Southwest was home to 609 short-stay hospitals, with just under 91,000 beds, that participated in the Medicare program.  Home to about 10.9% of the nation's Medicare Part A enrollees in 2020, the region had 11.7% of the program's short-stay hospital bed capacity.  Here is a state-level look at Medicare short-stay hospital beds in the Southwest:

Medicare Short Stay Hospital Beds in the Southwest

	# Part A Enrollees		# Hospitals	# Beds
AZ	1,359,840		69	14,114
NM	427,346		32	3,915
OK	753,140		78	11,262
TX	4,275,461		430	61,582
Region	6,815,787		609	90,873
National*	62,498,751		3,481	774,873
% of National	10.9%		17.5%	11.7%

* National totals include U.S. territories

Source:  CMS Program Statistics, Table: MDCR PROVIDERS 4. Medicare Providers:  Number of Medicare Certified Hospitals and Skilled Nursing Facilities, and Number of Beds, by State, Territories, Possessions, and Other, the Calendar Year 2020