Adjustable Hospital Beds

Adjustable Hospital Beds for Home Care, Clinics and Long Term Care

Manual, semi-electric, full-electric, low and bariatric adjustable hospital beds from 300 to 1,000 pound capacity, with the rails, mattresses and accessories that complete them. Shipped nationwide by MSEC since 2003.

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Adjustable Hospital Beds MSEC Stocks, and Who Each One Is For

An adjustable hospital bed is a medical bed whose sleep deck is split into sections, so the head, the knees and usually the overall height can be raised and lowered by hand crank or by motor. That lets a patient sit up, lets a caregiver work at a safe height, and lets a nurse or therapist position the patient the way the care plan calls for. Medical Supplies & Equipment Company (MSEC) has supplied hospitals, nursing homes, rehab centers, home care agencies and families since 2003, and our hospital beds line covers every drive type a buyer is likely to ask about.

The fastest way to narrow the choice is to start with who will use the bed and who will operate it. A family caring for a parent at home needs something different from a skilled nursing facility, and both need something different from a bariatric unit. The sections below match each type of adjustable bed in our catalog to the setting it suits, with the real specifications from each listing, so you can compare before you call.

How to Choose an Adjustable Hospital Bed in Seven Steps

Work through these in order. Each step removes options, and by the end most buyers are down to two or three beds.

Confirm the weight capacity you need. Choose a bed rated above the patient’s weight plus the mattress, rails and anything else on the deck. Our standard beds run 440 to 450 pounds, the fully electric adult bed carries a 500 pound safe workload, and bariatric beds run 600, 750 and 1,000 pounds.
Decide who will make the adjustments. If the patient should be able to change position alone, choose an electric bed with a hand pendant. If a caregiver will always be present, a manual bed may be enough.
Choose the drive type. Manual beds use cranks for head, foot and height. Semi-electric beds move the head and foot by motor and the height by crank. Full-electric beds put all three on the pendant.
Check the height range. Low minimum heights help with transfers and fall planning. Higher maximum heights save caregivers from bending during care.
Measure the room and the route in. Standard beds are 36 inches wide and 88 inches long overall. Bariatric frames are 42, 48 or 54 inches wide. Check doorways, hallways and turns on the delivery route.
Plan the mattress, rails and accessories. Most beds ship without a mattress. Rails, floor mats and overbed tables are ordered separately unless the listing is a package.
Ask for a quote with delivery. Share your address, capacity and timeline, and we will confirm availability, lead time and freight before you order.

Manual, Semi-Electric and Full-Electric Adjustable Beds Compared

The drive type decides how often the bed actually gets adjusted, because a position that takes effort to reach is a position that gets skipped. Here is how the beds in our catalog line up.

Bed	Drive	Height range	Weight capacity	Overall size
Multi-Height Manual Medical Bed	Manual cranks	16 to 24.5 in	450 lb	36 x 88 in
Semi-Electric Medical Bed (Single Crank)	Electric head and foot, manual height	16 to 24.5 in	450 lb	36 x 88 in
Ultra Light Semi Electric Hospital Bed	Electric head and foot, manual height	15 to 24 in	450 lb	36 x 88 in
Full-Electric Hospital Bed	Electric head, foot and height	16 to 24.5 in	440 lb	36 x 88 in
Ultra Light, Full Electric Medical Bed	Electric, with 9 volt battery backup	15 to 24 in	450 lb	36 x 88 in
Fully Electric Adult Bed	Four DC motors, Trendelenburg	From 8.9 in	500 lb safe workload	39.75 x 85.5 in
Full Electric Bariatric Hospital Bed	Electric, emergency crank	18.25 to 26.25 in	600 lb	42 x 88 in
Full Electric Bariatric Medical Bed	Electric, emergency crank	18.25 to 26.25 in	750 lb	48 x 88 in
Full Electric Bariatric Hospital Bed, 1,000 lb	Electric, emergency crank	18.25 to 26.25 in	1,000 lb	54 x 88 in

Figures are taken from each product listing. Confirm the current specification sheet with our team before you order.

Manual adjustable hospital beds. Best for short term home use with a caregiver always present. The Multi-Height Manual Medical Bed adjusts head, foot and height by crank, and it is also offered with half rails. Browse all manual adjustable hospital beds, including the lightweight low bed frames below.

Semi-electric adjustable hospital beds. Best for home care where the patient changes position often but the bed height rarely changes. The head and foot sections move by pendant, and the height is set by crank at setup or between care tasks. Compare semi-electric adjustable hospital beds.

Full-electric adjustable hospital beds. Best for long term care, patients who reposition themselves and caregivers who work at the bedside every day. Every adjustment, including height, is on the pendant. The ultra light model carries two 9 volt batteries in the motor that can lower the head and foot sections nine times if the power fails. See all full-electric adjustable hospital beds.

Bed Positions Explained: Head, Knee, Height and Trendelenburg

Every adjustable hospital bed changes the shape of the sleep deck. What differs is how many sections move, how far and how easily.

Head section. Raising the back lets a patient sit up to eat, read or talk with visitors. The fully electric adult bed reaches a 70 degree back angle.

Knee and foot section. Caregivers often raise the knee break together with the head section so the patient stays in position rather than drifting toward the foot of the bed. The same bed reaches a 30 degree knee angle.

Overall height. A low position is used for getting in and out and for fall planning. A high position puts the patient at the caregiver’s working height for bathing, dressing and changing linens. Our standard beds run roughly 15 to 24.5 inches, bariatric beds 18.25 to 26.25 inches, and the fully electric adult bed goes as low as 8.9 inches.

Trendelenburg and reverse Trendelenburg. These tilt the whole deck head down or head up. The Fully Electric Adult Bed offers both from 0 to 14 degrees. When and how these positions are used is a clinical decision for the patient’s physician or nurse.

Mobility. Casters with locks let a bed be moved for cleaning or transport. The fully electric adult bed is designed with 360 degree mobility at any height, and the bed transporter moves several of our manual, semi-electric and full-electric frames.

Not Sure Which Bed Fits?

Tell us the patient’s weight, who will operate the bed and the room it is going into, and a specialist will recommend two or three models from our hospital beds line. Call 877-706-4480 toll free.

Ask a Bed Specialist

Features, Controls and Safety Features to Compare Before You Buy

Two beds with the same capacity can feel very different in daily use. These are the features our customers compare most often when they shop adjustable hospital beds for sale.

Controls. Electric beds use a hand pendant, which many families call the remote. Look for large, easy to read buttons if the patient will use the controls without help. Patient operated controls give some users more independence, while a caregiver may prefer a pendant that clips over the rail within reach.

Positioning range. Compare how far the head and knee sections move, the height range from lowest to highest, and whether the bed offers Trendelenburg tilt. The fully electric adult bed adds positioning that a standard home care bed does not.

Safety features. Locking casters, side rails that latch, an emergency manual crank on bariatric beds and battery backup on the ultra light full electric bed are the safety features buyers ask about. Safety planning for the patient, including rails and fall risk, belongs to the care team.

Sizes and width. Standard frames take a mattress about 35 to 36 inches wide and 80 inches long. Bariatric frames take a wider mattress sized to the deck.

Assembly and installation. Standard frames ship in two cartons and assemble without special skills. Bariatric frames weigh 276 to 338 pounds, so plan enough hands for setup, and ask us if you want help planning installation in the room.

Support after the sale. Keep the model and serial number. Our customer service team uses them to match parts, rails and mattresses later.

Bariatric Adjustable Hospital Beds: 600, 750 and 1,000 Pound Capacities

Best for patients above the 450 pound rating of a standard bed, or for anyone who needs a wider sleep surface. Our bariatric hospital beds are full-electric, all steel, with a split pan design, removable bed ends and an emergency manual crank. Setup needs no tools.

The three capacities come with three widths. The 600 pound bed is 42 inches wide, the 750 pound bed is 48 inches wide and the 1,000 pound bed is 54 inches wide, all 88 inches long with a height range of 18.25 to 26.25 inches. Package listings add a foam mattress and T style half rails, such as the bariatric bed package with two T style rails. Pair any bariatric frame with a bariatric mattress sized to its deck.

Wider beds need wider doorways. Measure every door and hallway on the way to the room before you order, and tell us if the bed must go up stairs or into an elevator.

Home Care Hospital Beds vs. Residential Adjustable Beds

Shoppers often compare a home hospital bed with a residential adjustable bed sold in queen or king sizes for everyday sleep. They are built for different jobs. A home care hospital bed is a single width medical frame with a height range designed around caregiving and transfers, rails that attach to the frame, and a mattress sized to a hospital deck. A residential adjustable base is designed for comfort and sleep in a standard bedroom and usually does not offer caregiver working height or medical rails.

If the person in the bed needs help with transfers, uses wheelchairs, walkers or rollators to get around, or will be cared for by family or home health staff, a hospital bed is usually the right category to shop. The care team or physician can help you decide which features the patient needs.

Adjustable Hospital Beds for Home Use: What Caregivers Should Plan

Most of the adjustable beds we ship go into homes, and the questions families ask are practical ones. Plan these before the bed arrives.

Space. Leave room on at least one side for a caregiver, wheelchairs, walkers or rollators, and room at the foot to walk past. If patient lifts will be used for transfers, allow space for its base to roll under or beside the bed.

Power. Electric beds need a nearby outlet. Keep the pendant and cord clear of the frame’s moving parts.

Low beds. Our 80 inch lightweight low medical bed frame and 84 inch version are rated at 300 pounds, weigh 34 and 38 pounds, and include a 3 position elevating headrest. Headboard and footboard covers come in 9 colors, which helps the bed look at home in a bedroom.

Floor protection. Many caregivers place bedside floor mats next to the bed, such as the 4 inch thick, 30 by 72 inch folding mat.

Setup. Several of our standard beds ship in two cartons, and the ultra light models assemble from 5 components. Tell us if you need help planning delivery.

Rails, Mattresses and Accessories That Complete the Bed

Most frames are sold without a mattress, so the bed is not ready until the pieces around it are ordered. This is what buyers typically add.

Mattresses. Mattress choice affects comfort and pressure distribution, and the care team may specify a particular support surface. Choose from foam mattresses and innerspring mattresses in our mattresses and overlays range, sized to the deck length of your frame.

Side rails. The full-length side rail is 1 inch steel with a spring loaded release, and several beds are offered with half rails. Rail choice is part of the care plan, so confirm it with the patient’s care team.

Bedside furniture. Overbed tables put meals and personal items within reach, and bedside cabinets hold supplies. For facility rooms, see our guide to overbed hospital lights.

Linens. Fitted, flat and disposable hospital bed sheets in our bedding range fit standard hospital mattresses.

Everything else, including transporters and bed accessories, is in hospital bed accessories and home bed accessories.

Pricing, Insurance and Delivery for Adjustable Hospital Beds

Price. Current prices are shown on each product page. For packages, several beds, facility orders or government purchasing, ask for a written quote. MSEC holds GSA contract V797P-2194D for federal buyers.

Insurance. Whether an adjustable hospital bed is covered is decided by the patient’s insurer or plan, usually based on a physician’s order and medical necessity. Check with the plan before you buy. We can provide a written quote and the product specifications for your records.

Shipping and delivery. We ship nationwide. Some colors, options and materials are made to order, which can add up to 4 weeks on certain models, so ask about lead time when you request a quote.

Warranty. Many of our standard and bariatric beds carry a manufacturer warranty of lifetime on welds, 5 years on the frame and 1 year on other parts and components, for the original purchaser. The exact terms are on each listing.

Call our specialists at 877-706-4480 toll free or 713-706-4480 local, or email inquiry@msecompany.net.

Keeping an Adjustable Hospital Bed in Service

Follow the manufacturer’s manual for your model. In daily use, caregivers and facility staff typically check that caster locks hold, that rails latch, that the pendant cord is undamaged and clear of moving parts, and that cranks turn smoothly. Clean the frame and rails with a disinfectant the manufacturer approves, and keep the model and serial number on file so replacement parts can be matched.