Limited-service rural hospitals that provide outpatient and short-term inpatient hospital care on an urgent or emergency basis, then release patients or transfer them to an Essential Access Community Hospital (EACH) or other full-service hospital. To be designated as RPCHs, hospitals have to meet certain criteria including requirements that they not have more than six inpatient beds for acute (hospital-level) care and maintain an average inpatient length of stay of no more than 72 hours.