Exploring hospital accessibility in British Columbia's Lower Mainland
department or school: Applied Science, Faculty of
department or school: Civil Engineering, Department of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Lucas, Matilda
issued: 2025-01-09T23:43:58Z
issued: 2025
related degree: Master of Applied Science - MASc
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: This thesis investigates healthcare accessibility in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, which is a geographic area consisting of the regional districts of Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. The research addresses three key questions: (1) What methods and metrics can be used to measure healthcare accessibility, and how can they be adapted to the Lower Mainland 's urban context? (2) What is the current state and spatial distribution of access to healthcare services in the Lower Mainland? (3) How does accessibility change with demographic factors and under disaster scenarios? The Enhanced Two-Step Floating Catchment Area (E2SFCA) method, adapted with a distance decay function, was employed to measure accessibility across Traffic Analysis Zones (TAZs) in the Lower Mainland using network information provided by TransLink. The analysis incorporated total bed capacity in hospitals with emergency rooms as a proxy for healthcare supply, and used normalized scores to compare the results across several case studies. The scenarios evaluated include a baseline assessment, a focus on senior and employed populations, and disaster simulations such as Disaster Response Routes (DRRs) and bridge closures following earthquakes. Results reveal significant spatial disparities in healthcare accessibility. While central and well-connected areas exhibit high accessibility, peripheral regions, such as Chilliwack and areas east of Abbotsford, face notable disadvantages, particularly for seniors. Disaster scenarios highlight the vulnerability of certain regions, where restricted routes and infrastructure disruptions can severely limit access to healthcare services. Despite the limitations of the network model, which excluded local roads and public transit, the findings underscore critical gaps in healthcare and transportation planning. By providing a detailed spatial understanding of healthcare accessibility, this thesis offers valuable insights for policymakers, healthcare providers,…
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/90087
note: EXPLORING HOSPITAL ACCESSIBILITY IN BRITISH COLUMBIAâS LOWER MAINLAND by Matilda Lucas B.Eng., University of Applied Science Berlin, 2022 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF APPLIED SCIENCE in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Civil Engineering) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) December 2024 © Matilda Lucas, 2024 ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for acceptance, the thesis entitled: EXPLORING HOSPITAL ACCESSIBILITY IN BRITISH COLUMBIAâS LOWER MAINLAND submitted by Matilda Lucas in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Applied Science in Civil Engineering Examining Committee: Dr. Amy Kim, Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, UBC Supervisor Dr. Carlos Molina Hutt, Associate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, UBC Supervisory Committee Member iii Abstract This thesis investigates healthcare accessibility in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, which is a geographic area consisting of the regional districts of Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. The research addresses three key questions: (1) What methods and metrics can be used to measure healthcare accessibility, and how can they be adapted to the Lower Mainland 's urban context? (2) What is the current state and spatial distribution of access to healthcare services in the Lower Mainland? (3) How does accessibility change with demographic factors and under disaster scenarios? The Enhanced Two-Step Floating Catchment Area (E2SFCA) method, adapted with a distance decay function, was employed to measure accessibility across Traffic Analysis Zones (TAZs) in the Lower Mainland using network information provided by TransLink. The analysis incorporated total bed capacity in hospitals with emergency rooms as a proxy for healthcare supply, and used normalized scores to compare the results across several ca…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2025-05
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0447714
language: eng
degree discipline: Civil Engineering
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
contributor: Kim, Amy M.
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/90087