Premium
Hospital‐Sponsored Rural Health Clinics: An Effective Diversification Alternative for Rural Hospitals *
Author(s) -
Bell Timothy L.,
Bell Sharon L.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
the journal of rural health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.439
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1748-0361
pISSN - 0890-765X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1748-0361.1991.tb00701.x
Subject(s) - rural health , diversification (marketing strategy) , medicine , health care , rural area , family medicine , nursing , economic growth , business , marketing , pathology , economics
Changes in rural health care are resulting in new challenges for the administrators of rural hospitals. The lack of available care, economic deterioration, and demographic changes in rural America are contributing factors to rural health care problems and are detrimental to the financial well‐being of rural hospitals. Diversification is becoming commonplace in these hospitals as administrators seek strategies to gain financial viability for their facilities. The concept of hospital‐sponsored rural health clinics is more than a decade old, yet there are fewer than 30 such clinics nationwide. Reasons for the underutilization of such clinics may include the lack of knowledge that such clinics exist as well as inadequate information describing the establishment, operation, and financial feasibility of the clinics. The hospital‐sponsored rural health clinic “concept” will be introduced, including potential benefits of such clinics to both the hospital and the communities they serve, factors to be considered in developing such a system, and problems that may arise in this development. This article presents a case study of how one rural hospital incorporated such clinics into its long‐range plans.