Counties that experienced severe climate-related disasters experienced significant decreases in hospital and outpatient care infrastructure, the researchers say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Counties that undergo severe climate-related disasters often suffer reduced access to critical health care infrastructure in the years that follow, a study suggests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The analysis<\/a>, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, looked at what happened to hospitals, pharmacies and ambulatory \u2014 or outpatient \u2014 care facilities after climate-related disasters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The study used data on health care facility locations, disaster losses and a variety of demographic factors, measuring the number of pharmacies, hospital-based inpatient care and ambulatory care in 3,108 U.S. counties between 2000 and 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Counties that experienced severe climate-related disasters experienced significant decreases in hospital and outpatient care infrastructure, the researchers say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In contrast, moderate disasters were associated with increased access to in health care, suggesting that \u201cdisasters can, in some cases, lead to (possibly unequal) redevelopment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMore affluent communities often have better connections, such as political influence, that help them maintain these important health institutions following a period of crisis,\u201d Yvonne Michael, a professor of epidemiology at Drexel University\u2019s Dornsife School of Public Health and the study\u2019s senior author, said in a news\u00a0release<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThese collaborations after a natural disaster are especially critical in low-income communities that often otherwise lack the resources to rebuild shuttered health institutions,\u201d Michael added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pharmacies, however, weren\u2019t associated with moderate or severe disasters \u2014 potentially because there are already \u201cpharmacy deserts\u201d in many areas nationwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Online pharmacies may be filling the gap, the researchers write, making communities ever more reliant on delivery infrastructure to access their medications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the future, the researchers write, studies should focus on what drives these trends and how urgent care centers, long-term care facilities or other health care centers experience natural disasters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n