• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact

BestMedicalDegrees.com

Your Online Guide to the Top Medical Degree Programs

Medical Deserts

Medical Deserts

Share this infographic on your site!

Medical Deserts

Medical Desert Definition: a populated region more than 60 minutes away from the nearest acute-care hospital.

Close to 1 in 5 Residential Areas in America don't have access to an acute-care hospital.

Including areas in:
Detroit
Los Angeles
Washington DC

And large rural regions in:
Texas
Georgia
Mississippi

A total of 640 entire U.S. counties are medical deserts.

It's a big deal
With rural communities already facing higher diabetes, heart problem, and cancer rates

Case Studies:

Coachella Valley, CA: [3]
Population: 346,518

1 doctor for every 1,653 residents in the eastern half of the valley
Now that several new clinics have opened.

It's a medical desert, literally:
11.6% of Desert Hot Springs struggled to receive healthcare due to transportation
15.3% of residents couldn't see a doctor because of office hours.

Contributing factors:
distance
sandstorms
wind

Belhaven, NC: [4]

It's a matter of business:

2 Medical Centers owned by the same company
1 in Washington, NC
1 in Belhaven, NC

"Failing Hospitals" must be restructured.

The Belhaven location was gutted of medical equipment which gutted revenue
+
An administrator who visited once a week was on the payroll for 6 figures.
=
Hospital loses $1.8 million a year, a reason for the owning company to "consolidate" campuses.

and

A reason for the owning company to "consolidate" campuses
—A medical desert was created.

1 hour drive from edges of service area to Washington, NC hospital
1 hour= most critical time for stroke recovery

Rural clinics refer patients to larger facilities owned by the same companies

Make money: through referrals for large services
Cancer Treatment
Heart Surgery
Specialists
Don't make money: by simply treating rural populations.

If you're critically injured, SHOULD you have to drive for an hour to get medical care?

Medical Deserts

Citations:

  1. http://www.advisory.com/daily-briefing/2013/11/13/more-hospitals-are-closing-and-its-creating-medical-deserts
  2. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/27/us-rural-idUSTRE76Q0MJ20110727
  3. http://www.desertsun.com/story/news/health/2014/05/18/coachella-valley-desert-hot-springs-doctor-shortages/9244159/
  4. http://www.storyofamerica.org/belhaven1
  5. http://www.teex.org/%5CESTI%5Cimages%5C090308-094216.jpg
  6. http://www.ers.usda.gov/datafiles/Rural_Definitions/StateLevel_Maps/GA.pdf
  7. http://www.ers.usda.gov/datafiles/Rural_Definitions/StateLevel_Maps/MS.pdf
  8. http://www.census.gov/statab/ranks/rank18.html
  9. https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Belhaven,+NC/Washington,+NC/@35.5541577,-76.8369017,11z/data=!4m13!4m12!1m5!1m1!1s0x89af67c1c5ae3711:0x266e7f0eba0c506b!2m2!1d-76.6229874!2d35.5401653!1m5!1m1!1s0x89af1881e597ba25:0x71613f6c07ebb50!2m2!1d-77.0521742!2d35.5465517
  10. http://www.gallup.com/poll/167798/uninsured-rate-continues-fall.aspx

Primary Sidebar

FIND YOUR DEGREE NOW!
Bestmedicaldegrees.com is an advertising-supported site. Featured or trusted partner programs and all school search, finder, or match results are for schools that compensate us. This compensation does not influence our school rankings, resource guides, or other editorially-independent information published on this site.

Featured Articles

  • 25 Fastest Online Medical Degrees
  • 50 Best Paying Nursing Specialties
  • 50 Highest Paying Medical Careers
  • Best Online Master’s Programs in Medicine and Healthcare
  • Best Medical TV Shows of All-Time
  • Top 10 Most Promising Experimental Cancer Treatments
  • Top Healthcare Jobs By College Degree
  • The EV-D68 Virus: Reason to Panic?
  • 30 Highest Paying Healthcare Jobs Without Graduate Degree
  • 30 Oldest Medical Schools in the World
  • Is Medical School Worth it Financially?

Program Rankings

  • 20 Fastest RN to BSN Degree Programs
  • Best Value Online DNP Programs
  • Best Value Online Master’s in Nursing Education Programs
  • Best Value Online Physician Assistant Master’s Programs
  • Best Value Online Master’s in Addiction/Substance Abuse Counseling
  • Best Value Online Master’s in Gerontology Nursing Programs
  • Best Value Online Master’s in Healthcare Management
  • Best Value Online RN to BSN Programs
  • Best Value Online Master’s in Marriage & Family Therapy
  • Best Value Online Master’s in Psychology Programs
  • Best Value Online Master’s in Mental Health Counseling
  • Best Value Online HI & HIM Programs
  • Best Value Online MPH Programs
  • Best Value Online MSN Programs
  • Best Value Online MHA Programs

Affordability Rankings

  • 30 Most Affordable Online RN to BSN Degree Programs
  • 25 Most Affordable Online Master of Psychology Degree Programs
  • Affordable Online Nurse Practitioner Programs 2021
  • 10 Most Affordable Online Masters Programs in Health Science
  • 10 Most Affordable Online Healthcare Informatics Bachelor Degrees
  • 10 Most Affordable Online Health Science Bachelor Degrees
  • 10 Most Affordable Online MSN Degree Programs
  • 10 Cheapest Online Emergency Management Bachelor’s Degrees
  • The Most Affordable Online Emergency Management Masters Degrees
  • 10 Most Affordable Online Public Health Bachelors Degrees
  • The Most Affordable Online Bachelor’s Degrees in Health, Wellness, and Nutrition
  • 10 Most Affordable Online Masters Degrees in Health, Wellness and Nutrition
  • 10 Most Affordable Online Masters Degrees in Healthcare Informatics
  • 10 Affordable Online Masters of Healthcare Administration
  • 10 Affordable Online Bachelors Degrees in Psychology
  • 10 Affordable Online Masters In Public Health
  • 10 Affordable Online Bachelor Degrees in Healthcare Administration
  • The Most Affordable Online Associate Degrees in Medical Billing and Coding
  • Affordable Online Medical Billing and Coding Certificates and Diplomas 2020
  • 10 Most Affordable Online Associate Degrees in Medical Assisting Programs

Featured Infographics

  • How To Recover From Burnout [Infographic]
  • Doctors Vs. Nurses [Infographic]
  • Racial Disparities in Healthcare [Infographic]
  • Debunking Detox [Infographic]
  • Antibiotics & Fast Food [Infographic]

Resource Guides

  • Best Blogs for Medical Students
  • Health Informatics Online Resource Guide
  • Medical Assisting Online Resource Guide
  • Medical Billing & Coding Online Resource Guide

Medical School Rankings

  • FindTheBest
  • StudentDoc
  • TopTestPrep
  • U.S. News & World Report

Medical Associations

  • American Association of Medical Assistants
  • American Medical Association
  • American Medical Billing Association
  • American Medical Informatics Association
  • Healthcare Billing & Management Association
  • International Medical Informatics Association
  • National Medical Association
FIND YOUR DEGREE NOW!
Bestmedicaldegrees.com is an advertising-supported site. Featured or trusted partner programs and all school search, finder, or match results are for schools that compensate us. This compensation does not influence our school rankings, resource guides, or other editorially-independent information published on this site.

© 2021 BestMedicalDegrees.com, a Red Ventures Company | Privacy Policy