they receive an average of 1200 calls per year. >> three or four years likely to be there. and if we get the call, we could go hours without coverage. >> reporter: since the hospitals shut down, they have become little emergency rooms. it's more than just an inconvenience for richland resident anna lord barrett with no hospital nearby and dr. raju unavailable, she had to call an ambulance when she caught the flu. >> it would have been so much easier to get fluids here and come home which is what i needed but it took all night long. >> reporter: but for others who have suffered with more serious haven't been so lucky. >> i can remember having to ventilate somebody. i've seen people i've known all my life die. we can't save everybody but it's nice to save the ones that we can. >> reporter: more rural hospitals are in a public