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.