Could limited access to medical care worsen the coronavirus crisis in rural areas?
Rural areas are less well-armed against health emergencies, as is clear as the coronavirus continues to spread through the U.S. In 2020, a systematic review of the effects of the pandemic in rural areas found a “significant disparity in terms of the distribution of professional resources” between urban and rural areas. It cited healthcare infrastructure, physicians and intensive-care unit availability as a few such resources.
An April KFF analysis found rural areas had on average 1.7 ICU beds per 10,000 people, versus 2.8 per 10,000 people in urban areas. Rural residents, older and sicker on average, are both more likely to be hospitalized and to require ICU beds. For these reasons, the analysis notes, rural communities' healthcare systems are more likely to be strained during coronavirus outbreaks.
