Lawrence County has seven county run hospitals. Because three

Question

Lawrence County has seven county run hospitals. Because three privately run hospitals are now in existence in the county, Lawrence has decided to close one of its seven county hospitals, to reduce costs to the county. The county executives want to choose a hospital to close so that its absence has the fewest negative health consequences for citizens of the county. An independent consulting firm, advising the county executives, has recommended closing the hospital with the highest fatality rate.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously calls into question the consulting firm's recommendation for the choosing the hospital to close?

A) Each one of the county hospitals has lower fatality rate than at least one of the privately run hospitals.

B) The county hospital that is the most expensive for the county to operate is the one with the highest fatality rate.

C) Most patients who would have gone to the closed county hospital will go to one of the privately run hospitals, instead of one of the six remaining county hospitals, driving up costs at these places.

D) The most at-risk patients throughout the county are referred to those public hospitals that have a high concentration of trained specialists on staff.

E) Throughout this state and neighboring states, no county that has a population comparable to Lawrence County operates more than six county hospitals.

rajthakkar · Answer

IMO D because if the most at-risk patients throughout the county are referred to those public hospitals that have a high concentration of trained specialists on staff,then these hospitals could have high fatality rates.closing them will cause negative impact on citizens of the county.Destroying the argument leads us to answer i.e. consider closing high fatality rate hospital will yield high impact on citizens of the county.Find the answer which proves this.

What's the OA?

Ella02 · Answer

I think it is D, as closing the Hospital with the highest mortility rate wouild have a big impact. The reason is that in tjis Hospitals patients with severe problems go there and the high mortility is because of the severe illness of most patients

minwoswoh · Answer

IMO D

The hospital with the highest fatality rate ranks #1 in fatality rate not because it provides bad quality attention but because the most severely injured patients go there. And they go there probably becuase this hospital has a high concentration of trained specialists on staff.

Closing that particular hospital would lead to negative health consequences for the citizens of the county, a situation that is exactly opposed to what the county wants.

mvictor · Answer

to weaken the conclusion, we need to find a reason why the hospital with the highest fatality rate is an important one in the county.
only D addresses this.

A - compares fatality rate from private with county ones. so out.
B - this one actually strengthens the conclusion.
C - speaks about preferences of people. out.
D - right!!! if this hospital is one at which all the most serious diseases are treated, of course it will have the highest fatality rate.
E - compares with other states/counties. irrelevant.

chetan2u · Answer

Hi  mikemcgarry ,
I would put this Q to you, since the Q is shown to be from Magoosh...
I'll just speak of the OA, which is D..

Crux of para  
since three privately owned hospitals have come up, the county executives intend to close down one of the seven county run hospitals to save money , an action that should have least/fewest negative health consequences for citizens of the county,..

Recommendations  
recommendation is to close down the one with the highest fatality rate...

what does the Q asks us?  
Which of the following, if true, most seriously calls into question the consulting firm's recommendation for the choosing the hospital to close?..

what are we required to find 
something Questioning  closing down the one with the highest fatality rate ..

what does the OA, D, convey..  
D) The most at-risk patients throughout the county are referred to those public hospitals that have a high concentration of trained specialists on staff...
it conveys that most at-risk patients come to place with most trained specialists..

What does the OA lack? ..
 Connecting two different terms through ASSUMPTION 
1) The choice does not connect most at-risks with most fatality rate.
2) It may just be that the hospital with the most fatality rate is at a hospital where lesser at-risk patients come, but the inefficient staff, scanty resources, and other reasons related to the hospital have led to the highest mortality rate at that hospital. 
3) Also, It may just be that the hospital recieving the most at-risks cases has the least fatality rate because of the efficient staff, resources, and other reasons related to the hospital have led to the highest mortality rate at that hospital. 
4) Why are we assuming that most at-risks will lead to most fatality rate. To answer this Q, we have to limit ourselves to what has been provided to us.

mike, I would appreciate that answer be provided without any prejudice to the source. I have seen many sources simply donot reply when it comes to one of their Q, if they go wrong on an issue and thereby imparting or creating a doubt in students mind.
I think accepting that, yes, some mistake has happened can only increase the acceptability of the source.
I, too, would accept if I have gone wrong in my assessment of the Q, since its early morning and I have just had a glance on this Q and these were first thoughts.

chetan2u · Answer

Hi,
 mikemcgarry  and Magoosh.....

chetan2u · Answer