An ongoing building boom in the hospital industry "is sparking concern about economic and geographic disparities in health care," the Wall Street Journal reports. The U.S. hospital industry has spent $100 billion between 2000 and 2005 to build new facilities or expand existing ones -- nearly double the amount spent from 1995 through 2000 -- according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In addition, another $200 billion will be invested in hospital construction and expansion over the next decade, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The Journal reports that "[m]uch of the construction is occurring in fast-growing suburbs, as hospitals target the most affluent, insured patients who can afford to pay for top care." Meanwhile, "many urban hospitals -- which often treat poorer people -- are struggling financially, and scores have had to shut their doors," the Journal reports. Sixteen percent of city-based public hospitals closed between 1996 and 2002, according to a study published last year in the New England Journal of Medicine. The Journal profiles a case in Chicago, in which Advocate Health Care earlier this year proposed closing the obstetrics and gynecology and mental-health units at the not-for-profit Bethany Hospital, which primarily serves low-income urban residents. At the same time, Advocate was planning a major expansion of a suburban hospital. The Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board initially blocked Advocate's plan to close the units but months later reversed the decision on the grounds that there was not enough demand for the services at Bethany. The Journal also examines a situation in Denver, in which three downtown facilities are moving to the suburbs and four additional suburban hospitals are being built. According to Denver Health, the city's only remaining public hospital, there will be 39% fewer hospital beds in downtown Denver within five years (Naik, Wall Street Journal, 11/22).