Introduction
Every person no matter who they are deserve access to the best aid for what they need. However, this access to health services can already be limited for certain people or groups in society. This may be due to discrimination of person or disability or for the reason that there are not many health facilities near them; lack of resources or ability to find/request these resources is a huge reason as to why many people go without taking care of their health.
Data
Whether it be the lack of space to build or places to rent/buy, there is a significantly less amount of health related facilities shown on this map in certain areas. The data shown here is provided by the NJ Office of GIS (NJOIS); it represents the frequency of hospitals and long term health care centers that are in Madison and the surrounding areas. Blue squares represent Long Term Health Care Facilities in New Jersey. Red triangles represent Hospitals in New Jersey.
Result
In Madison, as of 2020, the number of Long Term Care Facilities are just three, represented by the blue squares. The red triangles represent the hospitals in Madison and the surrounding towns. One last piece that is not represented on the map due to a lack of them in these areas are Acute Care Hospitals, which are hospitals that provide more services for short term illnesses/conditions rather than just surgeries. There are many more Long Term Care Facilities shown on this map; these facilities are places where people with medical or non-medical chronic illnesses or disabilities that allow them to not be able to care for themselves to go to get whatever help they may need.
When the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020, this data was dispersed in order for people to find areas that would cater to their needs and that were relatively close to where they live; these include various residential and non-residential health care centers. The area with the most health care centers shown on this part is Morristown, NJ. With a lack of health care facilities specifically in Madison, NJ, this leaves people to have to drive out of their way in order to receive care for something that could sometimes be fatal.
Conclusion
Having access to different health care facilities, whether this be private practices or hospitals can be and are essential to peoples lives. While the closest medical facility is roughly 10 minutes away from Madison, those extra minutes can sometimes be the determining factor for someone’s life. The main way to help change this map so that we are able to see more points of health related services would be to get spaces available for specialized care.
About the Data
NJ Department of Health (NJ DOH) NJ Department of Health, Office of Health Information Technology, Hippocrates system NJ Office of Information Technology, Office of GIS (NJOGIS), NJ Department of Health (NJ DOH) – Long Term Care Facility locations and information; New Jersey Hospital Association (NJHA) – Long Term Care Facility locations and information; NJ Office of Information Technology, Office of GIS (NJOGIS) The dataset can be found online here.
Find this map online:
Madison Hospitals & Health Centers
In addition to access to hospitals and health professionals, proximity to commercial entities that promote harmful health behaviors are also an aspect of town life that are reviewed and regulated. For example, see the following link:
