
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 22, 1995                   TAG: 9502220053
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

HOUSES OF HEALING

We only trust the hospitals half as much as we trust the doctors. Eight in 10 say they have a great deal of trust in their family physician; only half that many say they have a great deal of trust in the people who run the valley's hospitals.

Do you have confidence in the people who run the hospitals in the valley?

A great deal 45%

Only some 40%

Hardly any 10%

Unsure 1%

Who lacks confidence in the hospitals?

It's the young, the poor, the single and the men who most distrust the people who run the valley's hospitals.

AGE

Seniors have the most trust in hospitals; Generation Xers have the least.

A greal deal Only some Hardly any Unsure

18-29: 34% 47% 16% 3%

30-49: 44% 42% 10% 4%

50-64: 43% 39% 11% 7%

65 and up: 54% 32% 8% 6%

EDUCATION

Trust in hospitals divides along educational lines; trust spikes sharply among college graduates.

\ High school drop-outs: 39% 38% 16% 7%

High school grads: 42% 39% 13% 7%

Some college: 41% 43% 13% 3%

College graduates: 61% 33% 1% 4%

INCOME

Trust rises with income. The breakpoint appears to be $30,000: Once someone's household income tops that level, people become much more trusting in the valley's hospitals.

\ Less than $10,000: 43% 25% 26% 6%

$10,000-$19,999: 33% 46% 15% 6%

$20,000-$29,999: 44% 39% 13% 4%

$30,000-$39,999: 60% 35% 6% 2%

$40,000 and up: 51% 42% 4% 3%

RACE

Blacks are much more distrustful of hospitals than whites.\ Whites 47% 39% 9% 4%

Blacks 31% 44% 19% 5%

The Roanoke Valley Poll was conducted by Roanoke College's Center for Community Research. The poll surveyed 400 Roanoke Valley residents and has a margin of error of 5 percentage points. Among demographic subgroups, the margin may be higher.

by CNB