Abstract

SAPATA, Maria da Penha M.; SOARES, Darli Antônio  and  SOUZA, Regina Kazue Tanno de. Use of hospital beds under public administration in a medium-size Municipality in the Southern Region of Brazil, 1998-2002. Epidemiol. Serv. Saúde [online]. 2006, vol.15, n.2, pp.57-67. ISSN 1679-4974.  http://dx.doi.org/10.5123/S1679-49742006000200007.

In the present study, the authors analyzed the profile of admissions to hospitals under public administration between 1998 and 2002, and correlated this with changes implemented in the municipal health system of Maringá, a town located in Paraná State, southern Brazil. This hospital network is predominantly private, with deficits in beds available through the National Unified Health System (SUS), a condition aggravated by having almost half of these beds dedicated to the area of Psychiatry. The major findings included low SUS hospitalization rates; and elevated rates of unauthorized transfers to hospitals in other municipalities at the beginning of the period, due to lesions, poisonings and other external causes (65.9%), diseases of the respiratory tract (56.2%), pregnancy, delivery and puerperium (44.1%), and diseases of the circulatory system (34%). However, a marked reduction in these hospitalizations was observed in 2002. The frequency of hospitalizations in Maringá increased among both residents and non-residents. In conclusion, the number of hospital beds is insufficient to attend SUS patients, indicating the need for expansion to guarantee hospital care for the municipality's population, and for patients referred from other towns.

Keywords : National Unified Health System (SUS); hospitalization; health administration.

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