Micro-hospitals are popping up around the country, but many providers still lack a solid understanding of what a micro-hospital is and how it can help satisfy emerging needs in their markets.

Micro-hospitals are 24/7, small-scale inpatient facilities—around 15,000 to 50,000 square feet—with between eight and ten inpatient beds for observation and short-stay use.

Like their name implies, these are small facilities with an average of 10 beds and a focus on emergency or middle to medium high acuity care, higher than urgent care, but lower acuity than a trauma center. They have everything needed to operate an emergency department: imaging equipment, lab services, everything except an ICU and MRIs.