Definition of the catchment area for a small rural hospital near a large city.

Practicing physicians, hospital directors, members of the hospital's board of directors and government health care planners can benefit from an accurate description of a hospital catchment area. The sociodemographic and geographic characteristics of the catchment area of Wakefield, PQ.'s 31-bed Gatineau Memorial Hospital (GMH) were studied. A randomized, door-to-door survey was conducted among permanent residents in the catchment area. The response rate was 96.1%. We found language to be an important and complex determinant of hospital utilization patterns. Orientation towards the city also affected the pattern of hospital use; those who lived between Wakefield and Ottawa-Hull were more likely to use a city hospital, as were those who had recently moved to the area, or who commuted to work in the city.