The aim of this study was to assess the capacity of the Katuba district hospital to address felt needs for hospitalization of patients. To do it, information on the activity of hospitalization contained in the registers of patients and the reports of the district medical officer were collected and used to determine indicators related to the hospitalization. The queuing model was used to determine the daily characteristics of the hospitalization.
As results, the initial bed occupancy rates in different inpatient services were 162 % in the pediatrics ward, 98 % in the maternity, 97 % in the surgery ward, 43 % in the male internal medicine ward and 43 % in the female internal medicine ward. According to needs of hospitalization, redistribution of beds was proposed and returned the above bed occupancy rates respectively to 94 %, 94 %, 87 %, 91 % and 85 %. The queuing model applied on each inpatient service revealed that the daily average numbers of patients awaiting an available bed are respectively of 9, 11, 4, 8, and 4, with a waiting time respectively estimated at 2,26 ; 2,69 ; 6,1 ; 8,16 and 5,48 days. Definitely, disparities of the initial bed occupancy rates highlight an inefficient distribution of beds between inpatient services, and the fact that patients wait for days before being admitted to hospital indicates that the capacity of the hospital is insufficient and should be improved.