More than 1,000 patients a month have been coming to Prince William Hospital's new free-standing emergency room, open less than a year, located in a corner of a medical office building in Manassas, Va.
Emergency rooms tend to be more overcrowded and have longer wait times in areas where there are fewer primary-care doctors. More than 200 satellite emergency rooms are open nationwide, some intended to relieve congestion, others to claim a spot in
a growing community for the parent hospital.