Modelling spatial accessibility to medical care. Case study of the north-eastern region of Romania

Abstract

Providing the entire population with the same accessibility to services of general interest is among the priorities of EU policy. Among these services, those concerned with medical treatment occupy a special place due to their social and economic importance. The study raises the issue of modelling the population's spatial accessibility to medical services in the North-Eastern Region of Romania. A trans-scalar methodology that has been tailored to the specic features of the Romanian medical system was employed for computing indexes of accessibility. The methodology brings together into one synthetic indicator five hierarchical levels of analysis, the geographical proximity of service centres, their degree of attractiveness and the potential need for medical services at local level. The results highlight areas with different levels of accessibility to medical services and their dysfunctionalities according to each variable employed in the analysis.