Of 220 residents living in the residential unit of a multi-level geriatric center, 95 required a total of 131 transfers to other facilities over a one-year period. Fifty-three of these patients were transferred to the associated chronic-care hospital for short-term acute medical investigation or treatment. The average length of stay of 17 days was similar to that of patients of comparable age with comparable medical conditions admitted to an affiliated acute general hospital from the community. In addition to continuity of medical care and the social and psychologic advantages of remaining within the geriatric center, this transfer potential resulted in substantial financial savings. The cost of hospitalization in the general hospital would have been more than twice that of the geriatric unit.