“Small and rural hospital” means an acute care hospital that meets either of the following criteria:
(a)
Meets the criteria for designation within peer group six or eight, as defined in the report entitled Hospital Peer Grouping for Efficiency Comparison, dated December 20, 1982.(b)
Meets the criteria for designation within peer group five or seven and has no more than 76 acute care beds and is located in an incorporated place or census designated place of 15,000 or less population according to the 1980 federal census.
Source:
Section 124840, https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=HSC§ionNum=124840..