[The waiting times in a health center]

Variables of geographical and functional accessibility were evaluated with a questionnaire in 322 users of a health center with spontaneous demand of medical care. A remarkable finding was that, while the time from the patient's home to the health center was 9.3 minutes, the mean waiting time in the clinic was over two hours (121 min). Surprisingly, only 30.2% of the surveyed population considered this waiting time as "long or very long". By contrast, when they were asked about what would be their optimal waiting time the mean response was 35.5 min. The factors possibly involved in those long waiting times and their relation with the user's satisfaction are evaluated. It becomes obvious that a widespread "time-oriented" appointment system should be implemented.