Trend Deepening regional gaps in healthcare despite public medical support

Summary

The report finds that regional gaps in healthcare are deepening despite continued government efforts. Support exists under the Public Health Care Act for regional national university hospitals and local medical centres. Yet hospitals in the regions struggle with financial difficulties and with securing medical personnel. Regional population decline and the concentration of population and infrastructure in large cities are compounding difficulties in service quality and staffing between cities and regions. The report therefore calls for a national strategy for medically underserved areas built on regional, essential and public healthcare. Setting a policy direction to improve and expand regional, essential and public care is presented as the starting point.