According to a recent study

...
that identified all emergency department (ED) closures in California during 1999–2010, one-quarter of hospital admissions during that period occurred near an ED closure, and that those inpatients were 5% more likely to die than those admitted to a hospital that was not near an ED closure.

Source: "California Emergency Department Closures Are Associated With Increased Inpatient Mortality At Nearby Hospitals," Health Affairs, abstract only, August 2014,


http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/33/8/1323.abstract