Hospital Capacity
Many Rural Residents Use Urban Facilities
Why is it important?
Most rural hospitals are on the verge of bankruptcy. Because they serve fewer people, the cost of providing health care per person is higher than in urban hospitals. Yet their patients are generally less reliable sources of income than urban patients. Even if patients have jobs and health insurance, their per capita incomes average less than urban patients. Exacerbating the situation, rural patients are more likely to be on Medicare or Medicaid, which puts hospital finances at risk to changes in public policy.
Yet, hospitals play an essential part in building rural financial capital. Because distance to medical care may mean the difference between life and death, hospitals are attractive to entrepreneurs in search of a good place to own a business and raise a family.
Hospitals also attract and retain retirees, who through transfers and capital payments account for one-third of the Sierra’s personal income. When retirees move away to be near good medical care, a community’s financial capital is reduced by the income they take with them. Hospitals themselves are a good form of economic development because they have remained steadily active and cause little environmental harm.3
Not only do rural residents have fewer medical professionals per capita than urban residents, rural hospitals generally provide only primary care services. Telemedicine makes it possible for rural patients to consult with the best specialists without having to travel to urban areas. Future advances in telemedicine will continue to reduce the gap in health care between urban and rural areas.
How are we doing?
Staffed beds are higher in North Sierra because of high demand during summer months (visitors, forest product workers) requiring additional capacity, according to Ray Marks, CEO at Seneca District Hospital in Chester. Staffed beds in the North Central Sierra are much lower than the state average because many of its residents are served by hospitals in Sacramento.
3 Sam Cordes, "Health Care and the Rural Economy," Forum for Applied Research and Public Policy, 13, no. 2, (1998):90-93.
