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For Rural Americans, Healthcare and Hospitals Can Be Far Away
A new Pew Research Center study finds rural Americans face longer travel times to hospitals and feel they have lower quality healthcare than urban residents.
As a wave of hospital closures sweeps the country, rural Americans must drive much farther to the nearest hospital compared to their suburban and urban counterparts. That’s according to a new report from Pew Research Center, that calculated distance, travel time, and type of nearest hospital for more than 10,000 U.S. adults.
Nearly a quarter (23 percent) of rural residents surveyed said access to good doctors and hospitals is a major problem in their community, whereas only 18 percent of urban residents and 9 percent of suburban residents agreed.