Healthcare Insights
Top 25 government hospitals by number of staffed beds
In the United States, there are several different ownership models for hospitals. These models include proprietary, voluntary nonprofit, and governmental ownership.
Governmental hospitals are facilities that are run by the U.S. federal, state, or local government. Government hospitals are typically exclusively funded by the government as well as taxpayer dollars. Because of this, government hospitals are also sometimes referred to as public hospitals.
Using Definitive Healthcare’s HospitalView product, we’ve compiled a list of the top 25 largest government hospitals ranked by the number of staffed beds according to the most recent 12-month interval tracked in our database.
| Rank | Hospital name | HQ city | HQ state | Number of beds | Hospital ownership | Explore dataset |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jackson Memorial Hospital | Miami | FL | 1,595 | Governmental - County | Explore |
| 2 | Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center | Charlotte | NC | 1,191 | Governmental - Hospital District | Explore |
| 3 | UAB Hospital | Birmingham | AL | 1,166 | Governmental - State | Explore |
| 4 | Mayo Clinic Hospital - Saint Mary’s Campus | Rochester | MN | 1,154 | Governmental - City | Explore |
| 5 | The University of Kansas Hospital | Kansas City | KS | 969 | Governmental - Other | Explore |
| 6 | University Hospital | Ann Arbor | MI | 954 | Governmental - Other | Explore |
| 7 | Huntsville Hospital | Huntsville | AL | 904 | Governmental - Other | Explore |
| 8 | FMC Butner | Butner | NC | 900 | Governmental - Federal | Explore |
| 9 | UCSF Helen Diller Medical Center at Parnassus Heights | San Francisco | CA | 887 | Governmental - State | Explore |
| 10 | Santa Clara Valley Medical Center | San Jose | CA | 863 | Governmental - County | Explore |
| 11 | John Sealy Hospital | Galveston | TX | 837 | Governmental - State | Explore |
| 12 | DSH - Metropolitan | Norwalk | CA | 826 | Governmental - State | Explore |
| 13 | VCU Medical Center Main Hospital | Richmond | VA | 816 | Governmental - Other | Explore |
| 14 | UNC Medical Center | Chapel Hill | NC | 809 | Governmental - Other | Explore |
| 15 | Mayo Clinic Hospital - Methodist Campus | Rochester | MN | 794 | Governmental - City | Explore |
| 16 | Sarasota Memorial Hospital | Sarasota | FL | 791 | Governmental - County | Explore |
| 17 | Parkland Health | Dallas | TX | 790 | Governmental - Hospital District | Explore |
| 18 | Western State Hospital | Lakewood | WA | 771 | Governmental - State | Explore |
| 19 | University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center | Houston | TX | 756 | Governmental - State | Explore |
| 20 | UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital | Aurora | CO | 754 | Governmental - Other | Explore |
| 21 | University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics | Iowa City | IA | 740 | Governmental - State | Explore |
| 22 | William P Clements Jr University Hospital | Dallas | TX | 728 | Governmental - State | Explore |
| 23 | Stony Brook University Hospital | Stony Brook | NY | 725 | Governmental - State | Explore |
| 24 | Biloxi VA Medical Center | Biloxi | MS | 716 | Governmental - Federal | Explore |
| 25 | Grady Health System | Atlanta | GA | 707 | Governmental - County | Explore |
Fig. 1. Data is from Definitive Healthcare’s HospitalView product. Data accessed May 2025.
Which government hospitals have the most staffed beds?
The government hospital with the most staffed beds in the U.S. is Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida, with 1,595 beds. It is owned by Miami-Dade County through the Public Health Trust and serves as a major public teaching hospital.
In second place is Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, with 1,191 beds. This hospital is the flagship facility of Atrium Health and is part of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Hospital Authority, a municipal entity established under North Carolina’s Hospital Authorities Act. It is one of two hospitals on this list owned by a hospital district, which are public entities providing healthcare within designated regions.
Ranking third is UAB Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama, with 1,166 beds. UAB is a state-owned academic medical center and the primary hospital for the UAB Health System, known for its research and teaching programs.
What are the different types of hospital ownership?
There are several different types of ownership when it comes to government hospitals, the largest being federal, meaning that it is owned and operated by the federal government.
There are about 200 of these federal government hospitals operating in the United States, and they are overseen by the Department of Defense (DOD), the Veterans Health Administration (VA), and the Indian Health Service (HIS), a division of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
State-owned hospitals are managed by individual state governments and often serve as academic or psychiatric institutions. County and city governments also own and operate hospitals, typically serving as safety-net facilities for local populations. Additionally, hospital districts—which are special-purpose governmental entities—can own and operate hospitals. These districts are created through state legislation and funded through local taxes.
Why are government/public hospitals important to healthcare?
Government or public hospitals play a vital role in the U.S. healthcare system by providing access to care for specific populations and underserved communities. These hospitals often serve groups such as veterans, active-duty military personnel, Native Americans, and low-income individuals, depending on their ownership. Because they are funded through government budgets and taxpayer dollars, public hospitals may offer low-cost or no-cost services, particularly in emergency and essential care.
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