Total Current Bed Count
How many beds does Albany Medical Center have? Albany Medical Center runs 766 hospital beds. This makes it one of the largest hospitals in New York’s Capital Region. The bed count lets the center treat many different patients across various specialties and care levels.
The bed setup shows what the facility does best. Resources spread across different medical departments:
Medical/Surgical beds make up the biggest group with 431 beds. These handle most inpatient care for general medical issues, surgeries, and recovery after operations. This large number means enough room for routine hospital stays and planned surgeries.
Critical care has 60 intensive care beds for patients who need constant watching and advanced life support. These ICU beds come with advanced medical tools. Specialized critical care teams staff them.
Maternal and infant care takes up a set portion of beds. The facility has 39 maternity beds for labor, delivery, and care after birth. Newborn services split into two parts: 13 neonatal intensive care beds for very sick newborns and 14 neonatal continuing care beds for babies who need extra monitoring before going home.
Breakdown of Beds by Unit or Service Type
Albany Medical Center splits its 765-766 staffed beds into two main groups: routine services and special care units. Each group hospital medical bed serves different patient types with different medical needs.
Routine service beds total 557 beds across the facility. These beds handle standard inpatient care that doesn’t need close monitoring. The routine services category generated 183,640 inpatient days in recent reporting periods. Patients in these units receive medical care, surgical treatment, or post-operative recovery that follows standard care protocols. General medical floors, standard surgical recovery units, and rehabilitation beds fall into this group.
Special care units operate 162 beds for critical and high-acuity patients. These beds recorded 44,513 inpatient days. This shows the intensive nature of care provided. The higher bed-to-patient-day ratio reflects the longer stays and more complex medical needs in critical care settings.
Critical Care and Specialty Units
The special care category includes several specialized units. The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) provides life-saving care for sick children. The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) holds the highest level designation possible. It can handle the most fragile newborns with complex medical conditions. This designation means the unit can care for premature infants born at any stage and babies with severe birth problems.
Neuroscience patients get specialized care in the Neuro ICU. Staff monitor conditions like stroke, brain injury, and neurological emergencies. The Vascular ICU focuses on patients with complex blood vessel conditions. This includes post-surgical care after major vascular procedures.
The 6-story Patient Pavilion houses hybrid operating rooms. These rooms combine traditional surgical tools with advanced imaging technology. Surgeons can perform complex procedures with real-time imaging guidance. This reduces patient risk and improves outcomes.
Pediatric Services Infrastructure
The Bernard & Millie Duker Children’s Hospital operates within Albany Medical Center. It dedicates specific beds to pediatric surgery, trauma care, and general pediatric medicine. This children’s hospital functions as a hospital-within-a-hospital. It provides specialized environments designed for young patients.
The facility operates the only Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center in northeastern New York and western New England. The Massry Children’s Emergency Center serves as the region’s only dedicated pediatric emergency department. This specialized emergency unit sees thousands of children each year. It provides age-appropriate emergency care separate from adult emergency services.
Service-Specific Utilization Patterns
Different medical services show different use patterns. Cardiology beds treated 667 Medicare inpatients with an average stay of 5.42 days. The average charges per cardiology patient reached $47,505. This reflects the diagnostic testing, monitoring, and treatment protocols typical in cardiac care.
Cardiovascular surgery beds handled 876 Medicare inpatients with a shorter average stay of 4.65 days. Average charges jumped to $117,702 per patient. This shows the resource-intensive nature of open-heart surgery and other cardiovascular procedures. The higher patient volume but shorter stays suggest efficient surgical protocols. Post-operative care gets patients stabilized fast.
Inpatient Utilization by Medical Service
Albany Medical Center runs patient care through separate service lines. Each line shows different usage patterns. These patterns reflect medical needs and regional healthcare demands. The 241,723 total inpatient days recorded across all units show how different patient groups move through the facility.
Service Line Activity and Length of Stay
Medical service usage changes based on specialty and how sick patients are. The hospital built dedicated units for this. Each unit matches patient needs with the right resources and staff.
Routine medical services handle most hospital activity. These services created 183,640 inpatient days across 557 designated beds. Patients get standard medical treatment here. This includes post-surgery care and diagnostic tests that don’t need intense watching. The routine services cover general medicine admissions. They also handle elective surgery recoveries. Plus, they take step-down patients moving from higher-level units.
Specialized high-acuity services work in a different way. The 162 special care beds produced 44,513 inpatient days. This lower day-to-bed ratio shows the intense nature of critical care. Patients stay longer here because their medical needs are complex. They need constant watching. They also need advanced life support systems. The specialized care these patients get isn’t available on routine floors.
Cardiac Service Volume and Charges
Heart services are one of Albany Medical Center’s busiest specialty areas. Cardiology admissions brought in 667 Medicare patients during recent reporting periods. These patients stayed an average of 5.42 days per admission. The longer stay is due to what cardiac patients need—stress testing, heart catheterization, medicine adjustments, and watching for problems.
Average charges for cardiology patients hit $47,505 per admission. This includes diagnostic imaging and lab work. Medicine costs are in there too. So is the monitoring equipment needed during the stay. The charge structure shows two things: cardiac care uses a lot of technology, and patients need constant watching.
Cardiovascular surgery patients have different usage numbers. The service treated 876 Medicare inpatients with an average stay of 4.65 days. Stays are shorter than non-surgical cardiac patients. But average charges jumped to $117,702 per patient. That’s a 148% increase over cardiology charges. Open-heart procedures use a lot of resources. So do valve replacements and bypass surgeries. Operating room costs add up. Specialized surgical teams cost money. Perfusion services aren’t cheap. Plus, immediate post-surgery intensive care drives these higher charges.
Maternal and Newborn Service Utilization
Childbirth and newborn services created 3,635 nursery inpatient days beyond the specialized NICU population. These days cover healthy newborns rooming with mothers. They also include infants under watch for minor issues. Some babies are moving from higher-level care before going home. The nursery supports the 39 maternity beds where deliveries happen and mothers recover.
The hospital separates general nursery days from the 13 neonatal intensive care beds and 14 neonatal continuing care beds. This separation shows how the hospital ranks newborn care by how sick babies are. Level III NICU beds handle the most fragile infants. Continuing care beds work as a step-down unit before babies go home.
Facility Status and Designations
Albany Medical Center has earned state and national recognition. These awards shape its role in regional healthcare. The New York State Department of Health gives the center key designations. These tell what types of patients the facility can treat.
The hospital runs as a Regional Trauma Center. It has two trauma designations. First, it’s a Level I Adult Trauma Center. Second, it’s the one Level I Pediatric Trauma Center in northeastern New York and western New England. The facility keeps special teams, equipment, and protocols ready 24/7 for the worst injury cases. Trauma patients from across the region come here. Local hospitals send them when they can’t give the care needed.
Specialty Care Designations
The state recognizes the center in other specialty areas too. The Comprehensive Stroke Center status requires advanced brain care. This goes beyond basic stroke treatment. The facility offers blood vessel procedures, brain surgery, and special neuro-critical care all day and night.
The Regional Perinatal Center status makes Albany Med the go-to place for risky pregnancies. It handles tough deliveries across many counties. This works with the hospital’s Level III NICU. Together, they form a full maternal-fetal medicine system. The facility also runs as a designated AIDS Center. This gives special infectious disease care.
Academic and Research Status
Albany Medical Center works as a full academic medical center. It has teaching duties. The facility trains 419 full-time equivalent (FTE) interns and residents. They work across many specialties. This teaching ties straight to Albany Medical College, started in 1839. The medical school trains over 840 medical and graduate students each year. The college gives out more than 100 doctoral degrees per year. These cover medicine, nurse anesthesia, physician assistant studies, biomedical sciences, and bioethics.
The academic setup has 2,000 college staff members. Biomedical scientists work across four research centers. Over 500 faculty physicians divide their time. They do clinical care, teach medical students, and guide resident training. The hospital belongs to the Council of Academic Health Systems Executives (CAHSE). This puts it among the nation’s top teaching hospitals.
Data Sources and Update Dates
Albany Health Data (AHD) gives us the official bed count for Albany Medical Center. The database got its latest update on 07/23/2025. AHD tracks licensed beds, staffed beds, and how much capacity is actually running across all New York State healthcare facilities.
Timing matters here. Hospital capacity changes with infrastructure projects. June 2025 brought big news. Albany Medical Center announced a $25 million emergency department expansion. Hospital leadership pointed to some of the longest wait times in the nation as the reason. This money will change how patients move between emergency services and inpatient beds.
Current Facility Footprint
The main campus covers about 2,000,000 square feet. This space holds the 766 beds we detailed earlier. You’ll find 37 operating rooms on this campus. These surgical suites handle the cardiovascular surgery program, trauma services, and general surgical work mentioned before.
Albany Med Health System pulls together capacity from four partner hospitals. These facilities run 1,520 beds across the Capital Region. That network total breaks down like this: Albany Medical Center’s 766 beds, Columbia Memorial Health’s 192 beds, Glens Falls Hospital, and Saratoga Hospital.
