1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Rural Emergency Acute Care Hospital Act . 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) According to the University of North Carolina’s Center for Health Services Research, 55 rural hospitals have closed in the Unites States since January 2010. (2) In 2014, iVantage conducted a study for the National Rural Health Association and found 283 hospitals at risk of closure based upon performance indicators that matched those facilities already forced to close in this decade. (3) Researchers at the University of North Carolina identified inpatient volume as a substantial contributing factor to the financial performance of rural hospitals, with many of the at-risk hospitals having an average daily bed census of less than two. (4) Adverse impacts to the local economy and the loss of timely access to emergency medical care are 2 major effects of rural hospital closures. (5) According to the National Center for Rural Health Works, the typical rural hospital creates over 140 jobs and generates $6,800,000 in compensation while serving an average population of 14,600. (6) The 2014 iVantage study estimates that the 283 at-risk hospitals could result in the loss of 36,000 health care jobs, 50,000 community jobs, and $10,600,000,000 in gross domestic product. (7) Time is the most critical factor for achieving successful outcomes in emergency medicine, and emergency medical clinicians refer to the time-sensitive period during which successful outcomes may be best achieved as the golden hour . (8) The National Conference of State Legislatures states that 60 percent of trauma deaths in the United States occur in rural areas, where only 15 percent of the population is represented. (9) The disproportionate percentage of trauma deaths in rural areas is likely attributable in large part to a combination of response time to the scene and distance to the nearest emergency room to stabilize trauma victims. (10) The percentage of trauma deaths occurring in rural areas could continue to increase