Effect of the Neighborhood Health Center on the Use of Pediatric Emergency Departments in Rochester, New York

Abstract

Neighborhood health centers can be an important new development in medical care for indigents in a metropolitan community. The effectiveness of one of these centers in reducing the number of pediatric visits to emergency departments was studied by comparison of the number of emergency-department visits by Health Center area children in 1967, before the Center opened, with the number of visits by Center-area children in 1969 and 1970, nine and 21 months after the Health Center was established. The changes were compared with other child populations in areas lacking health centers.