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Interactive Maps Highlight Urban-Rural Differences in Hospital Bed
Capacity
Rural
Areas Have Fewer ICU Beds and Populations at Greater Risk for COVID-19
Complications
As
the U.S. coronavirus outbreak spreads beyond densely populated metropolitan
areas, a new KFF analysis finds that rural areas typically
have fewer intensive care hospital resources than their urban counterparts,
and populations at greater risk of developing serious illness and
complications from COVID-19.
While
metro and non-metro areas have similar numbers of hospital beds per capita
(23.5 vs 23.8 beds per 10,000 people), non-metro areas have fewer intensive
care (ICU) beds – about 1.7 per 10,000 people, compared to 2.8 in urban
areas. When adjusted for age, non-metro areas have only 1.6 ICU beds per
10,000 age-adjusted population, compared to 2.9 ICU beds in metro areas.
Since older adults with COVID-19 are both more likely to require
hospitalization and more likely to require intensive care while hospitalized,
outbreaks in rural communities could strain the already limited capacity of
their health systems.
The
analysis includes interactive maps that enable users to explore estimates of
hospital bed capacity by area, and to adjust those estimates based on the age
of the population.
On
average, residents of rural areas tend to be older and sicker than people who
live in urban areas. 20% of people living in non-metro areas are age 65 or
older, and 26% of residents under age 65 have health conditions that put them
at a higher risk of developing serious COVID-19 complications. Many may
already face challenges accessing health care services due to factors like
provider shortages and longer travel times to reach hospitals.
The
analysis is part of the Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker, an online
information hub dedicated to monitoring and assessing the performance of the
U.S. health system. For more data, analysis, polling and journalism on the
COVID-19 pandemic, visit our special resource page on kff.org.
Filling
the need for trusted information on national health issues, the Kaiser Family Foundation is
a nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California.
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Thursday, April 23, 2020
Interactive Maps Highlight Urban-Rural Differences in Hospital Bed Capacity
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