Abstract
The integration and restructuring of municipal hospitals in Okitama district of Yamagata centered around Okitama Public General Hospital is now recognized as the most successful and pioneering examples of integration and restructuring of municipal hospitals today. In this study, we conducted an ex-post-facto verification of the integration and restructuring, by statistically clarifying the evaluation by the demand side, which we believe has not yet been done.
From the results, it became clear that the medical care provision after the integration to Okitama Public General Hospital, while sacrificing the access a little, was viewed favorably by the local residents. In addition, even in respect of access, no significant problems have been encountered after the integration. Furthermore, there are a lot of opinions calling for enrichment of advanced and specialized medical care at Okitama Public General Hospital, although more residents are calling for enrichment or expansion of facilities for long-term care. Because anxiety over chronic diseases that cannot be completely cured by acute-care hospitals alone is also high, the functional differentiation between Okitama Public General Hospital and the satellite hospitals seems to fit the needs of the residents.
Based on these findings, we confirmed that the integration and restructuring of municipal hospitals centered around Okitama Public General Hospital is being viewed favorably, in general, even from the demand side, namely, the local residents.
