Investigating the Level of Access to Hospital Medical Facilities Using the Geographical Information System (GIS) in Yazd, Iran, in 2019

Introduction: proper geographical access to hospital medical facilities will increase people’s visits to receive non-emergency services and no delay in providing emergency services. This research aimed to determine the level of access to hospital medical facilities with Geographical Information System in Yazd in 2019. Methods: This research is descriptive and applied. The required data for analyzing access included the information related to all existing hospitals, demographic data, and the layer of Yazd’s population blocks. Data analysis was carried out with GIS10.3 software. Results: Yazd city has 11 hospitals and 1915 active beds. The number of hospitals was proportional to the total population, but there was a shortage of 147 active beds. The per capita hospital space was 0.40 square meters, which is more than the standard (0.37 m2). The distribution of hospitals and beds in different regions of Yazd was inequitable. The population with high or desirable access (the population within a 1500-meter radius of the hospitals) to the hospitals with emergency, internal and surgery, pediatric, and gynecology units made up 54.12, 41.92, 44.44, and 48.34 percent of the Yazd’s population, respectively. Also, the population with limited access (the population out of a 3000-meter radius of hospitals) to the hospitals with emergency, internal and surgery, pediatric, and gynecology units made up 15.40,   31.72, 21.78, and 18.89 percent of the Yazd’s population, respectively. Conclusion: Regarding the obtained results, it is concluded that there is no shortage of hospitals and hospital space in Yazd, and the number of beds is not way below the international standard. However, locating the hospitals is not so that a large proportion of the population is placed within the radius of high or desirable access to hospitals.