It’s ridiculous to say a hospital has ZERO patients but if that’s your bar, well there’s no arguing that. A building with ZERO patients is certainly not a hospital, so you win. If you wish to discuss real situations, you could not be more wrong. Rural hospitals have minimums they need to adhere to in order to get Uncle Sugar’s money- ER beds, intensive care, etc. We have a local not for profit hospital where I live, a solidly rural area here in Florida. 15 yrs ago it was ailing, falling into disrepair, not able to rub 2 nickels together. A very generous donor funded a state of the art cardiac unit & they also opened a specialty cosmetic surgery wing. Why? It’s where the money is. Surgery is 3-4x more profitable than treating a sick patient in a bed. I think the average cardiac patient costs $75k for a 3-4 day visit, those just in a bed generate $5k/day. It’s pure economics. The hospital maintains the minimum number of beds but now “smarter people or those with means” get transported to the cardiac unit for treatment because it’s one of the best in the state & certainly the best anywhere nearby. The cosmetic surgery wing was wildly profitable before Rona and literally crippled operations due to the cash drain. I’m sure there’s some on here that actually run hospitals that can provide more concrete details, but surgery in hospitals is where the money is. As always, follow the money.