Nearly half of all patients admitted to hospitals in New Jersey last year were classified with the most severe levels of illness, the highest rate in a decade, according to a new data analysis from the New Jersey Hospital Association.
In 2025, 47% of hospital patients arrived with illness classified as major or extreme, the report from the not-for-profit trade organization found.
“The data confirms what our hospitals and their healthcare teams observe every day: Patients are sicker, requiring higher levels of care and expertise than ever before,” NJHA CEO Cathy Bennett said.
The NJHA first began tracking this illness trend in 2023 as the Covid-19 pandemic was ending. The analysis, which covers data from 2016 to 2025, shows the impact of an aging population, more people with chronic illnesses, and the ongoing presence of Covid-19 as an endemic condition.
While minor and moderate illnesses declined, the percent of patients with major illness increased from 23.5% to 32.6% and those classified as extreme more than doubled, from 7.0% to 14.4% between 2016 and 2025.
Taken together, the combined share of discharges with a major or extreme illness grew from 30.5% in 2016 to 47.0% in 2025, an increase of roughly 54.2%.
“We can’t afford to ignore the trend in rising patient severity,” Bennett said. “Sicker patients require skilled staff to care for them, sufficient hospital resources to support their needs and continued access to care at all levels.”
