Spatial distribution and accessibility to public sector tertiary care teaching hospitals: Case study from Pakistan

Abstract

Background: Public sector provision of health care services is important for addressing health morbidity and mortality burden for population health in developing countries like Pakistan. Physical accessibility and spatial distribution of healthcare facilities affect their utilization for improving population health. Aims: This study aimed to analyze the spatial distribution of five public sector, tertiary care, teaching, general hospitals in the city of Lahore, Pakistan. Methods: The point locations of all five hospitals were obtained from Google Earth. While the vector road network file was downloaded from the OpenStreetMap website. GIS software ArcGIS 10.5 and the Network Analyst extension were used for processing, analysis and mapping. The Lahore city shapefiles and the hospital point locations were projected to ensure correct spatial distance analysis. Results: The five hospitals are located in the northeastern and east-central parts of Lahore. Most of the Lahore “towns” (administrative subdivisions) are either partially or completely covered by the 12-kilometre buffer as well as the 12-kilometre service area around these five selected hospitals. However, either the 12-kilometre buffer or service area did not cover large swaths of Wagha, Nishtar, and Iqbal towns. Conclusions: Availability of geographic and attribute data on road network and population characteristics would facilitate planning for allocating locations for new health care facilities based on utilitarian principles.