Access to What?

Over the past decade, Americans are turning more and more to hospitals for care, continuing a trend seen over the last several years. For example, in 2003, hospitals saw more than 34.7 million inpatient admissions and nearly 111 million emergency visits - an increase in emergency visits of 11.6 percent in five years. This occurs in the context of reduced numbers of hospitals receiving emergency patients. Any ideas about why this is?