UMass Memorial Medical Center president Michael Gustafson said the hospital has about 800 beds and 500 of them are for adult med-surge patients. These additional 91 beds are about a 19% increase.
"91 beds are desperately needed," Gustafson said. "We have many days that we are starting days with patients waiting in our emergency departments waiting for beds. So this will provide a great relief and also the ability for us to get more patients transferred in to the medical center from outlying hospitals."