Psychiatric inpatient care and the availability of hospital beds: A comparison of three catchment areas. The psychiatric care in Gävleborg county was formerly centralized to a mental hospital and a small psychiatric department at a general hospital. It was then decided that the care system should be reorganized. The county was divided into three catchment areas. Each of these will have a comprehensive psychiatric care with both in- and out-patient facilities, but the intramural care will be reduced considerably. During the reorganization phase an almost experimental situation existed, as accessibility and availability of hospital beds differed among the three sectors. The inpatients for each sector were counted, and some patient characteristics were compared. Except for a considerable difference in the use of hospital beds small differences were otherwise noted. The sector with the smallest number of inpatients had relatively more schizophrenic patients. The accessibility and availability of hospital beds seemed to decide the number of inpatients even when deinstitutionalization was an accepted common goal. Local habits and traditions may also be important.