Hello Helena
I am glad to see you brought this topic of “limited community resources and its impact on patients discharge and readmission rates.” With my many years of nursing practice in hospitals and primary care I have seen a lot of patients return to clinic or hospital just because the community resources are limited especially in the rural areas. I have worked most of my nursing career in the rural area and we are very limited in community resources. Many times, I have had to send patients to a larger city clinic or hospital as we did not have the resources that this patient needed. I am now retired (non-practicing) from nursing, but I sit on a rural local Health Care Services Advisory Committee for our local municipality and just this committee alone has challenges from finding space for a new physician, if we are lucky enough to get one. To advocating for a local lab so our patients don’t have to travel 30 to 45 minutes away for service. Then there is the lack of community care services, so health care worker can support patients in their home. We have a large amount to older adults and people with illnesses. It is all a challenge for all involved! Thank you for making this topic a priority. WE NEED MORE COMMUNITY SERVICES FOR ALL
April