Methods for infrastructure planning in areas close to hospitals at the regional level

Abstract

Healthcare emergency management is also an infrastructure problem, in terms of accessibility and safety but nowadays there is lack of consolidated method to solve this issue. Concerning accessibility, the access to the nearest hospital should be guaranteed from each city in the region in an acceptable time. Concerning safety, road arterials travelled by emergency vehicles should have high safety standards, for emergency vehicles and the reduction of congestion due to traffic crashes. This study aims at providing a methodological framework (tested in the case of Apulia, Italy) to conduct accessibility and safety assessments at the regional level, in case of existing and new hospitals. Accessibility and safety were studied setting specific metrics, like time to reach the hospital and accident analysis at macroscopic level to plan safety interventions. The least safe road sites in the ranking obtained by applying the proposed indicators for new and existing hospitals can be improved.