RURAL HOSPITAL CLOSURES AND ACCESS TO SERVICES

This article examines the implications resulting from the closure of 2 5 rural hospitals during 1990. The implications are evaluated by estim ating travel distance and time to the nearest open hospitals. In addit ion, the types of services offered in the hospitals studied were measu red to provide a view of potential change in access to services. The a verage travel distance and time to the nearest hospital after closure was 25.7 miles and 30.2 minutes, respectively. In most cases, the rema ining hospitals offered a broader scope of services than did the hospi tals that closed. A possible interpretation is that the hospital closu res resulted in a tradeoff between breadth of services and rapid acces s for emergency conditions.