Health service capacity of township health centers in Jilin province

Objective To examine the status of health service capacity of township health centers and to provide reference to health management decision-making.Methods Descriptive analysis and quantitative comparative analysis were applied in this study.Results Compared with 2010, total acreage of buildings, total acreage for health service, the number of inpatient beds available, beds per 1 000 population, and the amount of expensive equipments(ten thousand yuan RMB or more per piece) were increased by 3.07%, 1.06%, 6.67%, 1.90%, and 38.72%, respectively, in township health centers of Jilin province in 2012.The ratio of doctors to nurses in 2012 was 1：0.56, higher than that in 2010(1：0.52).The number of medical and technical personnel per 1 000 population was 1.15 times higher than that in 2010(1.09).The total number of patients, outpatients, emergency visits and hospitalizations were increased by 4.43%, 7.52%, 10.28%, and 13.88%, respectively, compared to those in 2010.The bed utilization rate in 2012 was 34.24%, higher than that in 2010(32.44%).The number of health records esteblised, health education, elder care services and maternal health management in 2012 were increased by 79.43%, 22.77%, 84.24%, and 14.54%, respectively, compared to those in 2010.Conclusion Infrastructure and staff allocation of township health centers have been improved and public health services are strengthened in Jilin province, but capacity of basic medical services and utilization of health resources are inadequate.