Micro-Hospitals can provide care tailored to their communities’ needs
By Admin | May 17, 2017
Some areas don’t have large enough populations to support big hospitals, but the communities still need emergency and other medical care. Micro-hospitals can fill the healthcare gap.
These hospitals, which are usually 15,000 to 50,000 square feet, are typically licensed for a minimum of eight inpatient beds for observation and short stays. In a younger community, for example, they may have a focus on orthopedics. An older community’s hospital may have more catheterization labs.
Micro-hospitals are also cheaper and quicker to build with a much smaller footprint than a larger, inner-city hospital. They can also offer speedier care with convenience that some may not be able to get from larger hospitals. Less patients also means more attention and even better care.
"If you're in a big hospital you run the risk of a gunshot wound coming into your ER and you're schedule procedure may be delayed because anesthetist gets taken away in an emergency situation, whereas if you're in a micro-hospital those situations are less likely to occur. People will typically go to the big downtown facility as opposed to a micro-hospital," says Robert Garcia, vice president of health care advisory services at Transwestern, a commercial real estate firm.
There are disadvantages. Micro-hospitals are not equipped to handle all traumas and emergencies. In the event of being unable to handle a situation, they must assess and arrange a transfer to another facility.
However, for a community, a micro-hospital is far better than no hospital.
For more, read “Micro-Hospitals Provide Health Care Closer to Home” by U.S. News & World Report.
