Proposal:Deprecate healthcare=centre

Deprecate healthcare=centre
Proposal status:	Draft (under way)
Proposed by:	Jeisenbe
Tagging:	healthcare= or amenity==hospital, clinic, doctors, dentist, health_post, laboratory, vaccination_centre, hospice, medical_imaging, hospice, etc...
Applies to:	node, area
Definition:	This proposal discourages the use of the poorly-defined tag healthcare=centre, which is currently used for any kind of healthcare facility, most of which can be more clearly described with existing tags.
Statistics:
Rendered as:	n/a
Draft started:	2021-01-14

Proposal

Deprecate the tag healthcare=centre

Replace with existing tags amenity=hospital, amenity=clinic, amenity=doctors, amenity=dentist, amenity=health_post, healthcare=laboratory, healthcare=vaccination_centre, healthcare=hospice and additional tags under healthcare=* to more clearly describe the feature.

If there is no existing tag which is a good fit, users are encouraged to use a new value of healthcare=* which properly describes the feature, and to document it with a new wiki page or proposal, as would be done for a type of shop=* or sport=* or office=* which is not yet documented.

Rationale

We should discourage the use of healthcare=centre because it has little more meaning than healthcare=yes currently. This tag has been mentioned on the Key:healthcare page but never had a clear defintion.

It has been used for almost any kind of healthcare facility, especially those that use the word "centre" in their name, or a similar term in another language, from a village health post with 1 or 2 volunteer community health workers (and no nurses or physicians), on up to a regional hospital with surgical facilities and inpatient beds. It is also used for vaccination sites, laboratories and sample collection sites, medical imaging facilities, and any other type of health facility that did not have a documented tag.

The biggest usage is in India, where a large import has used this tag for 4 very different features, which vary widely in size and complexity from inpatient hospitals to rural health posts with only 2 community health workers: 1) "Community Health Centres" which have surgeons and inpatient beds (see amenity=hospital) 2) "Primary Health Centres" with doctors and nurses (see amenity=clinic) 3) "Sub Centres" with just 2 community health workers (see amenity=health_post) 4) "Dispensaries" a private general doctor's office (see amenity=doctors) See Public_health_system_in_India#Sub_Centres on Wikipedia and Dispensary#Primary_care_(India) on Wikipedia, and https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Talk:India_Health_Facilities_Import

In France it is often used, perhaps because "centre" is often a part of the name of any kind of health facility, similar to how "clinic" is used in North America for many kinds of healthcare facility. A common use is for a group of private medical practices (e.g. https://www.doctolib.fr/centre-de-sante/clichy/centre-municipal-de-sante-marc-chagall - , but also for laboratories, medical imagery, clinics, and even for head lice removal.

1) Health centre with several doctors, different specialiteis; https://www.openstreetmap.org/node/7638070435 - https://www.drancy.fr/vie-quotidienne/se-soigner-a-drancy/les-centres-municipaux-de-sante-382.html 2) Dentist office: https://www.openstreetmap.org/node/7647584433 3) Medical imagery: https://www.openstreetmap.org/node/2530846752 4) Laboratory: https://www.openstreetmap.org/node/1282084777 5) Head lice removal? "Bye bye nits" https://www.openstreetmap.org/node/6742326108

We already have more specific replacement tags for most of these uses 1) head lice removal - there is a proposal for healthcare=lice_removal 2) Group of medical practices: tag the name of the building, and then each office can be an amenity=doctors or another specific tag. 3) Medical imaging (x-rays, ultrasound, CT scan, MRI) - proposed to used healthcare=medical_imaging 4) For vaccination centres we already have the approved tag healthcare=vaccination_centre 5) healthcare=sample_collection for test collection facilities, and healthcare=laboratory for laboratories where tests are run

We should discourage use of healthcare=centre and encourage the use of new tags such as the above, which are more specific and clear.

Tagging

Deprecate the tag healthcare=centre - see replacement options.

Replace with existing tags:

LOADING TAG LIST...

Also see other possible options at amenity=*, healthcare=* and emergency=*

Mappers might also considered proposed tags below, which are NOT included in this proposal, such as:

• healthcare=sample_collection - previously proposed for a place where blood samples, urine samples, nasal swabs or other medical test samples are collected
• healthcare=hospital_ward - previously proposed for a place where blood samples, urine samples, nasal swabs or other medical test samples are collected
• healthcare=emergency_ward - previously proposed for a place where blood samples, urine samples, nasal swabs or other medical test samples are collected

Mappers should feel free to use a new tag for a type of facility which does not fit into existing tags. This is better than using healthcare=yes or healthcare=centre.

External discussions

• Tagging mailing list, Jan 2021: https://lists.openstreetmap.org/pipermail/tagging/2021-January/058254.html

Comments

Please comment on the discussion page.