Revealing the relationship between health care and poverty is an important content to explore the phenomenon of poverty and returning to poverty caused by illness. The medical resources index and medical facility accessibility of 677 counties in concentrated contiguous severe poverty areas from 2008 to 2017 were measured. Based on the analysis of spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of poverty and health care accessibility, the impact of health care accessibility on poverty was analyzed by using spatial error model. The results showed that the poverty in the concentrated contiguous severe poverty areas presented a fluctuant increasing characteristic, and it had significant spatial agglomeration. The spatial difference of poverty showed a phased characteristic of basically stable in the early stage and rapid increased in the late stage.The pattern of medical resources index changed from low in whole to high in the southeast and low in the northwest of Hu Line, and the medical facility accessibility has changed from a relatively balanced distribution to the pattern of low value.Health care accessibility can effectively reduce the level of poverty. Every 1% increase in medical resources index of counties in the povertystricken areas will produce a poverty reduction of 0.006%. Every 1% increase in medical facility accessibility will produce a poverty reduction of 0.133%.The impact of health care accessibility on different levels of poverty is heterogeneous. Compared to low poverty, the medical resources index has better propoverty. By 2017, every 1% increase in medical resources index will produce a poverty reduction of 0.047% in low poverty areas, and 0.353% in high poverty areas. Medical facility accessibility only has a certain poverty reduction effect on low poverty. By 2017, every 1% increase in medical facility accessibility will produce a poverty reduction of 0.083%. By increasing the number of health technical personnel to improve the medical resources index, the poverty reduction effect of counties in the povertystricken areas can be improved, especially in high poverty areas. Moreover, improving the convenience of treatment has a greater effect on poverty reduction than medical resources index, but it is limited in low poverty areas.

concentrated contiguous severe poverty areas; health care accessibility; poverty; impact