What was the main objective of the Hill-Burton Act?

The Hill-Burton Act, formally known as the Hospital Survey and Construction Act of 1946, primarily aimed to address the urgent need for hospital facilities in underserved areas. The main objective behind this legislation was to provide federal assistance in the form of loans and grants to help construct and modernize hospitals and healthcare facilities. This initiative was particularly focused on increasing access to healthcare, especially in rural and low-income urban areas where healthcare resources were scarce.

By facilitating hospital construction through funding, the Hill-Burton Act sought to ensure that communities could better meet the healthcare needs of their populations. The act required that the facilities built with its funding provide a certain amount of free or reduced-cost care to individuals unable to pay, thereby also addressing healthcare access issues for disadvantaged groups.