As cases of the novel coronavirus increase in Alabama, the state will need all the hospital beds it can get.

There are nearly 15,000 hospital beds in Alabama, but they aren’t evenly distributed across the state. Several parts of the state, especially rural areas, don’t have any hospitals at all, and others have a relatively small number of beds compared to their populations.

As AL.com’s Anna Claire Vollers reported earlier this week, 75% of Alabama’s 14,790 hospital beds are full on any given day. Any surge caused by the coronavirus could easily overwhelm the healthcare system.

Seven Alabama counties don’t have any hospital beds to speak of, according to data from the Alabama State Health Planning and Development Agency. More than half of the state’s 67 counties have fewer than 100 total hospital beds.

Twelve counties have fewer than 10 beds per 10,000 people, including a handful of counties in the Birmingham metropolitan area. Of the counties with at least some hospital beds, St. Clair, just northeast of Birmingham, has the smallest number of beds per person. St. Clair has just 4.8 beds per 10,000 people.

Alabama's nearly 15,000 hospital beds aren't evenly distributed across the state, and they likely won't be enough during a widespread COVID-19 outbreak. | Graphic by Ramsey Archibald

In general, Alabama’s largest cities tend to have the most hospital beds. Jefferson County, the most populous in the state, has by far the most, with more than 3,200 beds. Mobile is second with around 1,600, followed by Madison County, home of Huntsville, with just over 1,100. Those three are the only counties with more than 1,000 beds.

On a per capita basis, Houston County in the deep southeast corner of the state has the most beds, at 57.8 beds per 10,000 people. On the opposite end of the state, Colbert County has 55.3 beds per 10,000 residents. Etowah County, home of Gadsden, is the only other county with more than 50 beds per 10,000 people, with 52.9.

The number of beds in intensive care units here is even smaller. There are just fewer than 1,700 ICU beds in Alabama, and a lot of counties don’t have any.

There are 22 counties with no ICU beds at all, and 44 counties have fewer than two ICU beds per 10,000 people.

Jefferson County has the most ICU beds at 526, and the most per capita at 8 beds per 10,000 people. Mobile, Madison and Tuscaloosa are the only other counties with more than 100 ICU beds.

22 Alabama counties don't have any ICU beds at all. | Graphic by Ramsey Archibald

Take a look at Alabama’s current confirmed COVID-19 cases:

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