Geospatial network analysis for healthcare facilities accessibility in semi-urban areas

Abstract

Healthcare facilities in developing countries are mostly located in urban or semi-urban areas rather than in rural areas, causing inconvenience to the residents to reach clinics as occurred in Pulau Inda h Klang, Malaysia. Therefore, a comprehensive analysis of the healthcare service is conducted in this area by utilising geospatial network analyst, vector analysis and spatial criteria. The main intentions of this study are to find the optimum route to the nearby healthcare facilities and to recommend suitable sites to build a new location of the facility in the island. Data collection are composed of spatial and attributes data such as road access, lists of healthcare facilities, the type of healthcare facilities, travelling time, cost, as well as base maps from Google Earth. The finding shows only one main clinic is located in this island, and it may have a limited space and medical services to support the local health needs. Hence, spatial network analyses are conducted to assist the local community to find an optimum accessibility to reach ideal healthcare centres especially in peak time. The study has also suggested a suitable site for a location of healthcare facility in order to adequately cover the community.