The Albanian hospital network operates with low utilization levels, while a large part of the activity is concentrated in a few institutions, according to the World Bank report on health sector financing and efficiency.
In 2024, the average bed occupancy rate in public hospitals was around 43%, down from 46% the year before. The report compares this to an international efficiency standard of around 85%.
The data shows that the number of hospital beds reached 8,911 in 2024, up from 8,586 in 2019, even as the country’s population has declined. During the same period, the population reported in the World Bank table fell from 2.86 million to 2.36 million.
The number of people hospitalized increased to 299,318 in 2024, from 282,962 in 2019. Hospitalizations per 1,000 inhabitants increased to 127, from 99 in 2019, while the average length of hospital stay fell to 4.7 days.
The report notes that Albanian hospitals are accepting more patients, in contrast to the trend of declining hospitalizations observed in the European region and OECD countries.
However, beds remain occupied less than half the time, mainly due to shorter stays and the concentration of services in a limited number of institutions.
About 40% of all hospitalizations are concentrated in a single tertiary hospital in Tirana, while many regional hospitals operate with low volumes of activity.
Certain services are also concentrated in a few hospitals. The report notes that 68% of cardiac interventions are performed at the Mother Teresa University Hospital Center, while 79% of cataract surgeries are performed at the same institution.
Radiotherapy and linear accelerator treatment are provided only by the Mother Teresa University Hospital Center. The World Bank notes that investments in recent years have focused on modernizing hospital infrastructure, equipment, and management.
But these investments have brought limited progress in consolidating the network and improving operational efficiency. The report recommends a more strategic approach to optimizing the hospital network, including selective contracting based on volume or defined criteria.
It also proposes rationalizing the number of beds and restructuring inefficient local hospitals. In the recommendations chapter, the World Bank calls for the consolidation of services into centers of excellence and the repurposing of institutions that continue to remain underutilized. /Monitor