Pennsylvania County-Level COVID-19 Hospitalization Metrics

Data.pa.gov provides weekly aggregate hospitalization data for Pennsylvania counties, tracking metrics like ICU bed availability, ventilator usage, and COVID-19 patient counts. Updates were published weekly on Wednesdays, though weekly reporting concluded with the June 28th update. The dataset includes 14-day averages for key metrics such as '14-day average Adult ICU beds total' and '14-day average COVID-19 patients on ventilators'.

Use Cases

• Forecast 'COVID-19 Patients Hospitalized' using '14-day average' features for bed and ventilator capacity.
• Analyze geographic disparities in 'Pediatric Beds Available' and 'Adult ICU beds, percent available' across Pennsylvania counties using 'County' and FIPS codes.
• Model the relationship between 'COVID-19 Patients on Ventilators' and 'Total Ventilators in use' to assess ventilator utilization rates.
• Track temporal trends in 'Medical/surgical beds, percent available' using the 'Date of data' field to identify periods of high hospital occupancy.

Strengths

• Includes 14-day averages for key capacity metrics like '14-day average Adult ICU beds available', smoothing weekly volatility.
• Provides geographic granularity with 'County' and 'County FIPS' columns for sub-state analysis.
• Contains multiple bed-type metrics including 'Pediatric ICU Beds Total', 'Adult ICU Beds Total', and 'Medical/Surgical Beds Available'.

Limitations

• Weekly updates have ceased, making the data historical and not suitable for real-time monitoring after June 28th.
• The dataset contains null values for airborne isolation bed metrics after July 13, 2022, as noted in the description.
• Sample size and row count are unknown, preventing assessment of statistical power or geographic completeness.

Provenance

Source

data.pa.gov

Collection Method

Aggregated from hospital reports submitted to the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

Time Range

Covers the period of active weekly reporting up to June 28th.

Freshness

Historical; weekly updates concluded. Last platform update was 2025-07-22.

Geography

County-level data for the state of Pennsylvania.