Use of Emergency Outpatient Services in a Small Rural Hospital: A look at a rural hospital in Alberta.

Use of emergency outpatient services is described for a 34-bed rural hospital in Alberta. One in 10 outpatients was classified as having serious and extreme emergencies. Less than 3% were transferred to a higher level of care; 10% were admitted to the local hospital. Recommendations are made for staffing, training, inventory, and funding of small rural hospital emergency departments.