Expenses of health facilities in rural and urban health care centers in Zanjan

Expenses of health facilities have a great impact on their quality. The present study was conducted to determine the expenses of each health facility in rural and urban health care centers in Zanjan province in 2001.

For this descriptive study, 26 minor health care centers in small villages, 6 rural and 5 urban health care centers were selected through randomized sampling. Expenses were determined according to the type of facility, the exact center, and also type of expense. Thus, expenses of usable materials and equipment, specific equipment, drugs, building repairs, vehicles, personnel, and other equipment were all determined in accordance to the population

Expenses of minor health care centers in small villages, rural and urban health care centers were 49, 330, and 44 million Rials, respectively. Personnel expenses were by far the most common type of expenses that comprised 25.7, 21.5, and 31.3% of the aforementioned center's expenses, respectively.

Unfortunately, government has not allocated enough budgets for these health care centers. Meanwhile, paying further attention to the managing aspects of such centers could be helpful to control their expenses. Similar studies are highly recommended in other centers.