Date of Graduation

2000

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

MA

Committee Chair

F. Carson Mencken

Abstract

Rural health care deserves special attention because rural areas have high poverty rates, a high proportion of elderly residents, and high-risk job conditions. However, the number of rural hospitals, often a rural areasí main source of health care, is decreasing. Literature has shown that one of the main factors in hospital closure is ownership, specifically for-profit. This study examines trends in rural hospitals and other factors, including for-profit ownership, that may affect the declining number of rural hospitals. Data are drawn from annual hospital data from 1974 to 1995. A moving time series analysis is used to present the trends that have occurred in nonmetropolitan community hospitals in the United States and in all investor-owned hospitals in the United States. This research suggests that a positive correlation may exist between both the number of inpatient days and admissions in rural hospitals and the number of rural hospitals. A negative correlation may exist between both the number of outpatient visits in rural hospitals and the percent rural population in poverty and the number of rural hospitals. Investor-owned hospitals, on the other hand, display an unstable trend over the studied years.

Download

Share

COinS