[Manager profile and practices of county health management in the Unified Health System (SUS) according to population size in the municipalities of the Rio Grande do Sul state].

This study intended to gather who are the county health managers and the practices performed in management. It is based on a cross-sectional design. The methodology involved the use of electronic questionnaire, which was sent to the health departments of the 497 municipalities of the state of Rio Grande do Sul (RS). Of these, 297 were answered (59.75%). However, only those with more than 50% of valid answers (n = 264) were included in the statistical analysis. The analysis included the calculation of the distribution of variables and chi-square testes, taking population size as an independent variable. Most managers were women; graduated; from different professional backgrounds; average age of 43.76 years-old, and white. The average health expenditure in the municipalities was ≈ 20% of revenues. There was a consensus on the insufficiency of resources. With regards to population size, 79.92% presented with ≤ 20,000 inhabitants. Statistically significant differences were found in the management of municipalities of different sizes, both in terms of priorities and difficulties. The study allowed to partially understanding the reality of municipal management. These results indicate the need to further investigate the feminization of health management, working process assessment, and the impacts of economical austerity policy.