Evaluating community health centers in the City of Dalian, China: how satisfied are patients with the medical services provided and their health professionals?

Around 58 community health centers (CHCs) were investigated to evaluate their performance, and 372 residents were surveyed randomly about their satisfaction towards these centers. State-owned CHCs gained the least benefits and received most patient visits. Residents' opinions about health professionals working in these centers showed marked distrust due to their insufficient work experience and low education level; however, affordability, availability and access to services and drugs among CHCs generated comparatively high satisfaction. Therefore, enhancing CHCs' service delivery is a necessity to improve the quality of community doctors and nurses, increase enrolment and training programs, and augmenting hospitals' support to CHCs.