Small towns hospitals: Insertion and agreement in the Brazilian Unified Health System

Abstract

Importance of the problem: The importance of the hospital in the organization of the Brazilian Unified Health System (UHS) is indisputable. Hospitals with 50 beds or fewer, also called small hospitals are essential for building health care networks considering their capillarity in the system. Objective: Describing the characterization of small hospitals and their adequacy to current policy and confirm the results presented so far in the literature. Method: This is a cross-sectional, descriptive study based on secondary data obtained from the national databases: National Registry of Health Establishments, Hospital Information System, and registry of data of the Regional of Health. The study was conducted in a health region located in northern Paraná, Brazil. Results: In this study, more than 90% of the hospitals in towns of the 17th Regional of Health of Paraná are small. The supply of beds meets the guidelines of the Ministry of Health n. 1,101/2002. It was observed the extreme idleness of facilities, inactive surgical centers, and low occupation of hospital beds. Conclusion: It is concluded that the form of agreement isolated from each hospital did not have the desired effects by national small hospital policy. It is suggested that a new connection occurs regionally and that a unified management system might be created.