ABSTRACT
Objective To provide the administrative departments in the health sector with a method for estimating hospital beds when making regional health plans. Methods The method of general surveys was adopted to make relevant investigation on all the cities and districts in Shandong Province. Data collected were estimated by borrowed and self-developed formulas. Results By 2005, the total number of hospital beds in the province will be reduced by 5.19%, the number of beds in the city seats will be reduced by 4.97%, the number of beds in the county seats will be reduced by 1.03%, and the number of beds in the township seats will be reduced by 9.68%. Conclusion The findings of the study have filled in a gap at present when there is a lack of estimating methods. They are viable and yet still need to be polularized and perfected in practice.