Spatial distribution balance analysis of hospitals in Wuhan

Abstract

The spatial distribution pattern of hospitals in Wuhan indicates a core in the central urban areas and a sparse distribution in the suburbs, particularly at the center of suburbs. This study aims to improve the gravity and Huff models to analyze healthcare accessibility and resources. Results indicate that healthcare accessibility in central urban areas is better than in the suburbs, where it increasingly worsens for the suburbs. A shortage of healthcare resources is observed in large-scale and high-class hospitals in central urban areas, whereas the resources of some hospitals in the suburbs are redundant. This study proposes the multi-criteria evaluation (MCE) analysis model for the location assessment in constructing new hospitals, which can effectively ameliorate healthcare accessibility in suburban areas. This study presents implications for the planning of urban healthcare facilities.