The American Hospital Association (AHA) has offered strategies to protect access to care in struggling urban and rural settings, according to an article on the Health Facilities Management website.
According to the report, rural hospitals deal with remote locations, limited workforce and constrained resources. Inner-city hospitals have to find ways to achieve financial stability while keeping charitable missions intact.
Several strategies affect healthcare planning, design, construction and infrastructure.
For instance, an inpatient/outpatient transformation strategy involves a hospital reducing inpatient capacity to a level that closely reflects the needs of the community.