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