Zuckerman Randall, Doty Brit, Gold Michael, Bordley James, Dietz Patrick, Jenkins Paul, Heneghan Steven
Mithoefer Center for Rural Surgery, Bassett Healthcare, Cooperstown, NY 13326, USA.
J Rural Health. 2006 Fall;22(4):339-42. doi: 10.1111/j.1748-0361.2006.00055.x.
Hospitals play a central role in small rural communities and are frequently one of the major contributors to the local economy. Surgical services often account for a substantial proportion of hospital revenues. The current shortage of general surgeons practicing in rural communities may further threaten the financial viability of rural hospitals and communities.
To describe hospital administrators' perceptions regarding the current state of general surgery programs at small rural hospitals in New York State, including the impact that surgical services have on hospital financial viability.
A list of hospitals belonging to the rural hospitals group of the Healthcare Association of New York State was obtained to determine prospective survey recipients. Sixty-eight administrators at each of the identified hospitals were subsequently surveyed and 38 respondents met all inclusion criteria.
Approximately 87% of hospital administrators perceive that the general surgery program is critical to the hospital's financial viability. Forty percent of respondents report that they would be forced to close the hospital if the surgical program was lost. Among the 42% of administrators trying to recruit a general surgeon, almost two thirds have been searching for more than 1 year.
According to the perceptions of hospital administrators, the financial viability of rural hospitals in New York State depends in large part on their ability to provide surgical services. Additionally, general surgeons appear to be in high demand at a significant number of the surveyed institutions.
医院在农村小社区中发挥着核心作用，并且常常是当地经济的主要贡献者之一。外科服务通常占医院收入的很大一部分。目前农村社区普通外科医生的短缺可能会进一步威胁农村医院和社区的财务可行性。
描述医院管理人员对纽约州农村小医院普通外科项目现状的看法，包括外科服务对医院财务可行性的影响。
获取了一份属于纽约州医疗保健协会农村医院组的医院名单，以确定潜在的调查对象。随后对每家确定医院的68名管理人员进行了调查，38名受访者符合所有纳入标准。
约87%的医院管理人员认为普通外科项目对医院的财务可行性至关重要。40%的受访者表示，如果失去外科项目，他们将被迫关闭医院。在试图招聘普通外科医生的42%的管理人员中，近三分之二的人已经寻找了一年多。
根据医院管理人员的看法，纽约州农村医院的财务可行性在很大程度上取决于其提供外科服务的能力。此外，在大量接受调查的机构中，普通外科医生似乎需求量很大。
