Even the smallest, most isolated rural hospitals are now required to have bioterrorism preparedness plans. From the perspective of many rural hospitals, however, there is a disparity between Federal expectations and the realities of small hospitals operating in geographically isolated communities. As part of an effort to better understand how to close this gap, the Walsh Center for Rural Health...

Many rural communities across canada are facing challenges to the sustainability of core emergency and acute care health services, primarily due to problems with medical and nursing staffing. Data related to service efficacy and effectiveness are not well organized. Most of Canada still relies on reporting by large geopolitical areas (local health areas) that do not always relate natural catchm...

BACKGROUND Aeromedical transport in northern areas may be associated with hypothermia. The objective of this study was to determine whether significant hypothermia (core temperature <35 masculineC) occurs in severely injured or ill intubated patients during transport by rotary wing aircraft. METHODS In this prospective cohort study, all intubated patients over 16 years of age who were transpo...

The pressures for closer alignment between physicians and hospitals in both rural and urban areas are increasing. This study empirically specifies independent dimensions of physician and clinical integration and compares the extent to which such activities are practiced between rural and urban hospitals and among rural hospitals in different organizational and market contexts. Results suggest t...

we propose to use a mathematical method based on stochastic comparisons of markov chains in order to derive performance indice bounds‎. ‎the main goal of this paper is to investigate various monotonicity properties of a single server retrial queue with first-come-first-served (fcfs) orbit and general retrial times using the stochastic ordering techniques‎.

The public health challenges associated with rapid population ageing are likely to be exacerbated by poor physical activity levels. The purpose of this study was to identify correlates of physical inactivity in a population-representative sample of older adults in Ireland. This paper reports a secondary analysis of data from 4892 adults aged 60+ from the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILD...

The number of stand-alone rural hospitals has been shrinking as larger health systems target these hospitals for mergers and acquisitions (M and As). However, little research has focused specifically on rural hospital M and A transactions. Using data from Irving Levin Associates' Healthcare M and A Report and Medicare Cost Reports from 2005 to 2012, we examined two research questions: (1) What ...

The present study measures levels of stigma within health care settings in urban and rural Gujarat, in an attempt to understand how this may have contributed to the state's increasing HIV incidence. Two sites were studied: a rural hospital in Bardoli and an urban hospital in Surat. HIV-associated stigma among healthcare workers (N=170) was assessed using a Stigma Index. Overall, analyses sugges...

This paper makes an analysis of subsidies in Chile’s public utilities. Rates rebalancing have practically eliminated cross subsidies, and current programs are funded from the national budget. Over the last decade in particular, significant efforts have been made to extend public services to rural populations, and a consumption subsidy for potable water currently benefits 17% of the population. ...

BACKGROUND Frailty predicts dependence and mortality, and is an important health indicator for aging populations. Comparing frailty prevalence between populations of the same ethnicity but different socioeconomic, lifestyle, health and social care systems, and environmental characteristics would address the role of these factors in contributing to frailty. METHODS We compare frailty prevalenc...