Ohio Base Pressured To Fill More Hospital Beds

Ohio's largest military base is under pressure to fill more beds in its hospital. Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton needs to boost the use of 62-bed in-patient hospital, where the occupancy rate has been about 45 percent. The hospital has set a 70-percent occupancy rate as a new benchmark. The Defense Health Agency is evaluating health services throughout the military as budgets shrink and numbers of service members in uniform decline. The hospital could be in for some major changes if the numbers continue to fall. Pentagon spokesman Maj. James Brindle said there are no plans to close the hospital, but its status will be re-evaluated next year. The hospital is the second-largest in the Air Force system.