Institutional History as a Barrier to Health Care Access: An Analysis of Three “Medically-Overserved Communities”

• In Event: 4411 - Challenges and Barriers in Health Care Delivery

Abstract

Hospitals increasingly play a dual role in urban communities, offering acute medical services, but also serving as local anchors with the potential to address health disparities by expanding access to care. Although much of the existing literature on health care access has focused on medically underserved communities, our study highlights barriers to accessing care that occur even in communities proximate to major medical institutions. Through in-depth interviews in and around three major urban medical centers in the United States, we find that the historical relationships between hospitals and their communities shape institutional trust and decisions to seek medical care. If hospitals are to be successful anchors in urban communities, we argue that institutions must acknowledge their own histories within neighborhoods in order to facilitate trust and develop new opportunities for partnerships to promote population health.

Authors

• Berkeley Franz, Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine

• Jonathan R. Wynn, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

• Michael Wright, Ohio University

• Daniel Skinner, Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine