ACCESSIBILITY TO HEALTH CARE.

A survey of emergency room care in seven area hospitals in a major city shows that physical access to health care is directly correlated to identifiable socio-economic variables. For non-specialty hospitals, geographical closeness is of major concern, but only for those in lower income groups. Car ownership is a primary variable. Taxis and walking played greater roles than public transportation. Arrivals and problems of access are analyzed by race, sex, and income. The use of SORT/MERGE programs were essential to analyze the data available and establish it in priority ranking.