Tag:amenity=health_post

From OpenStreetMap Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Public-images-osm logo.svg amenity = health_post
Koto Luar health post.jpg
Description
A village or neighborhood health post, without a permanent physician. Edit this description in the wiki page. Edit this description in the data item.
Group: health
Used on these elements
may be used on nodesshould not be used on waysmay be used on areas (and multipolygon relations)should not be used on relations (except multipolygon relations)
See also
Status: in use

A health post (a.k.a. "Community Health Post", "Health Station", "Health Center") is a health and wellness establishment for local residents where basic health services are primarily provided by government healthcare workers other than physicians. In many cases, a rota of medical professionals (doctors, dentists, nurses, optometrists, etc.) visit the community to provide specific medical services, but the regular, primary services are more limited: midwifery, health counseling immunization, community awareness and wellness education.

Primary health care providers may vary from one facility to another. This may range from nurses, midwives, or accredited local community health workers with specialized training, but in general it is unreasonable to expect on-site physicians.

It is much smaller than a clinic -- ergo, smaller than a hospital, and unlikely to have emergency care facilities beyond first aid administration. They may have ambulance station services for ferrying emergency cases to the nearest hospital.

As of 2022, the tag is already in worldwide use (overpass-turbo search), especially in Africa and Asia.

How to map

Use the tag amenity=health_post on a node node placed at the centre point of the building, or on a closed way (area) area drawn around the perimeter of the building.

In addition to this tag, mappers may indicate one or more primary care providers:

Tags used in combination

Alternative tagging

There are mappers who tag the same feature using healthcare=* tags, but that approach is unable to specify the primary care provider(s) available. See comparative usage below:

amenity=health_post healthcare=health_post

See also

  • amenity=doctors - a doctor's office (a.k.a. "surgery" or "clinic") is a small medical practice with up to 9 medical staff.
  • amenity=clinic - a medical facility providing outpatient-only services, with 10 or more specialist doctors, nurses, or allied medical staff.
  • amenity=hospital - a hospital providing inpatient care, and emergency care services
  • healthcare=nurse - a facility where a nurse is the main medical services provider
  • healthcare=midwife - a facility where a midwife provides prenatal care and delivers babies
  • healthcare=health_post - a duplicate tag under healthcare=*