Abstract. Access to timely and adequate healthcare remains a persistent challenge in many rural and island communities in the Philippines, where geographic and infrastructural barriers often limit service delivery. Spatial analysis using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) has emerged as a powerful method for assessing disparities in healthcare accessibility and informing evidence-based planning and decision-making. This study presents a comparative spatial analysis of hospital accessibility in the municipalities of Dapa and General Luna, Siargao Island, using two GIS tools: AccessMod and ArcGIS Pro. By employing cost-distance and network-based travel time modeling, the research identifies geographic disparities in access to healthcare services across barangays. Both tools successfully revealed consistent patterns of inaccessibility, with remote areas such as Libertad, Cambas-ac, and Cabitoonan showing the longest average travel times to existing hospitals. In contrast, central barangays like Brgy. 2, Brgy. 6, and Brgy. 7 in Dapa had the shortest travel times. The results demonstrate that despite differences in computational approach and input data structure, both models reinforce the same spatial inequities in health service delivery. These findings are crucial for local health planners and decision-makers seeking to enhance equity in healthcare access through infrastructure upgrades or facility placement. The integration of spatial tools in public health planning offers a valuable lens for identifying underserved communities and guiding targeted interventions.
Gicale et al. (Tue,) studied this question.
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