Is this a "healthy" community?    Is this a "healing environment"? Effects of moving hospital from central core location to the outer edge: longer travel times for medical services for majority of community residents; increased emergency response times loss of a major employer in urban downtown, with consequential loss of customer base for supporting businesses (restaurants, service shops, etc.); many more downtown vacancies cost of relocating associated medical offices or increased travel time for those medical professionals that elect to maintain downtown offices underused existing infrastructure and city services in urban core; extraordinary costs for new infrastructure and city services at community's edge Effects of locating hospital in rural riparian floodplain: significant potential for disruption of services during natural emergency events (floods, etc.) increased flooding and decreased water quality due to stormwater runoff from large impervious surface areas (acres of parking lots, buildings, and new roads) loss of riparian habitat restoration opportunities due to need to maintain riverside revetments to limit flooding potential Effect of one hospital encroaching on geographic market of other: monopoly; higher costs and loss of service choices for all