EMTALA Patient Dumping
11-18-2003
Gordon Memorial Hospital, a small hospital in Nebraska, agreed to pay $7,500 to resolve its liability for CMPs under the patient dumping statute. The OIG alleged that the hospital failed to provide an adequate medical screening examination or stabilizing treatment to three individuals who presented to the hospital for evaluation and treatment.
11-12-2003
SSM DePaul Health Center (SSM), Missouri, agreed to pay $10,000 to resolve its liability for CMPs under the patient dumping statute. The OIG alleged that SSM failed to provide an appropriate medical screening exam and stabilizing treatment to an elderly patient who was transported from a nursing home to the hospital for treatment.
10-31-2003
Mercy San Juan Medical Center, California, agreed to pay $25,000 to resolve its liability for CMPs under the patient dumping statute. The OIG alleged that the hospital failed to provide an appropriate medical screening examination and stabilizing treatment to a woman who was sent to the emergency department by her doctor. The OIG alleged that the hospital discharged her for insurance reasons and sent her to another hospital where she was diagnosed with an emergency medical condition and admitted for treatment.
10-23-2003
SouthPointe Hospital, Missouri, agreed to pay $100,000 to resolve its liability for CMPs under the patient dumping statute. The OIG alleged that the hospital failed to provide appropriate medical screening examinations and/or stabilizing treatment to four individuals who presented to its emergency department. Allegedly one individual presented with a blood alcohol level of .43, another with lacerations on both her wrists, another with high blood pressure and dizziness and another complaining of depression and stating she had been raped.
09-30-2003
St. Joseph’s Hospital, a small Indiana hospital, agreed to pay $12,000 to resolve its liability for CMPs under the patient dumping statute. The OIG alleged that the hospital failed to provide an appropriate medical screening exam and stabilizing treatment to a woman who presented to its emergency department via ambulance complaining of hip pain and with a history of hip dislocations. The OIG alleged that a nurse met the ambulance and directed it to another hospital, where the woman was admitted and treated.
09-25-2003
Lackey Memorial Hospital, a small Mississippi hospital, agreed to pay $5,000 to resolve its liability for CMPs under the patient dumping statute. The OIG alleged that the hospital did not provide appropriate medical screening examinations to several patients who presented to its emergency department. The OIG further alleged that patients were being asked to pay significant amounts of money before being seen by a doctor to determine if they had an emergency medical condition.
09-25-2003
Public Health Trust of Miami-Dade County d/b/a Jackson Memorial Hospital, Florida, agreed to pay $25,000 to resolve its liability for CMPs under the patient dumping statute. The OIG alleged that the hospital failed to provide an appropriate medical screening exam or stabilizing treatment to two patients who presented to its emergency department. The OIG alleged that one patient, requiring an appendectomy, was inappropriately transferred (possibly due to concerns about insurance), and that another patient who was suicidal did not receive an appropriate screening, treatment, or transfer.
09-25-2003
Midland Memorial Hospital, Texas, agreed to pay $23,000 to resolve its liability for CMPs under the patient dumping statute. The OIG alleged that the hospital failed to provide an appropriate medical screening exam and stabilizing treatment to an 11-year old boy who presented to its emergency department after having been hit in the left eye with a baseball. The OIG alleged that the ED physician contacted the on-call ophthalmologist who told him to discharge the boy and have him go to the ophthalmologist’s office the following day. The OIG alleged that instead, the boy’s parents drove approximately 150 miles to another hospital where the boy was diagnosed with several conditions and admitted to the hospital for several days.
09-17-2003
Bibb Medical Center (Bibb), a small hospital in Alabama, agreed to pay $10,000 to resolve its liability for CMPs under the patient dumping statute. The OIG alleged that Bibb failed to provide an appropriate medical screening examination to a 31-year-old male with cerebral palsy and dementia and who was confined to a wheelchair. The OIG alleged that he presented to the emergency department with his mother, complaining of vomiting and constipation, and an emergency department (ED) physician felt the patient’s stomach and informed his mother that there was nothing the ED could do for him that she was not doing at home. The OIG alleged that the patient was taken to another ED and was admitted for several days with the diagnosis of fecal impaction with possible small bowel instruction and right lower lobe pneumonia.
08-25-2003
Falls Community Hospital, a small Texas hospital, agreed to pay $10,000 to resolve its liability for CMPs under the patient dumping statute. The OIG alleged that the hospital did not provide an appropriate medical screening exam or stabilizing treatment to a woman who was directed by her doctor to go to the closest emergency room. She allegedly presented with severe abdominal pain and was later diagnosed with acute pancreatitis.
08-18-2003
Johnston Memorial Hospital, Virginia, agreed to pay $5,000 to resolve its liability for CMPs under the patient dumping statute. The OIG alleged that the hospital refused to provide an appropriate medical screening exam to a patient presenting to its emergency department doubled over with pain, suffering from acute appendicitis. The OIG alleged further that when the patient’s wife was told that the patient would not be seen for one to one-and-a-half hours, she protested without avail and rushed her husband to another hospital, where he received emergency surgery.
08-05-2003
Griffin Memorial Hospital, Oklahoma, agreed to pay $80,000 to resolve its liability for CMPs under the patient dumping statute. The OIG alleged that the hospital failed to provide appropriate medical screening exams to seven individuals who presented to its emergency department with psychiatric complaints. The OIG further alleged that Griffin Memorial Hospital refused to accept an appropriate transfer of a patient with medical and psychiatric problems from another hospital that did not have the specialized capabilities to treat the patient.
07-25-2003
San Antonio State Hospital, Texas, agreed to pay $15,000 to resolve its liability for CMPs under the patient dumping statute. The OIG alleged that the hospital failed to provide stabilizing treatment to a depressed patient who presented to its emergency department after trying to kill herself. Instead, the attending physician allegedly sent the patient, by taxi, to a hospital approximately 17 miles away for treatment of a urinary tract infection. The doctor did so, allegedly, without providing for an appropriate transfer.
06-25-2003
Wayne County Hospital, a small hospital in Iowa, agreed to pay $10,000 to resolve its liability for CMPs under the patient dumping statute. The OIG alleged that the hospital failed to provide an appropriate medical screening examination and treatment and inappropriately transferred a patient who presented to its emergency department complaining of abdominal pain and discharge from the area surrounding a surgical incision. The patient’s surgeon allegedly had directed her to go to the emergency department of Wayne County Hospital for evaluation and treatment. The OIG further alleged that the hospital’s on-call physician refused to come in and instructed hospital staff to send the patient to the hospital where her surgery had been performed. At the other hospital, she allegedly was diagnosed with a ruptured bowel and was admitted and treated for weeks.
06-23-2003
After it self-disclosed conduct to HHS, John C. Lincoln Hospital – North Mountain, Arizona, agreed to pay $10,000 to resolve its liability for CMPs under the patient dumping statute. The OIG alleged that the hospital failed to provide an appropriate medical screening exam to a pregnant woman with symptoms of pre-eclampsia. A physician allegedly ordered appropriate diagnostic tests which were discontinued by a nurse when she learned of an “insurance denial.” The nurse allegedly then made transfer arrangements, falsely documenting the necessary physician certification for transfer without the approval of the physician. The patient was transported to another hospital via private vehicle.
05-19-2003
The Brown Schools, Inc., former owners of West Oaks Hospital, a psychiatric facility located in Texas, agreed to pay $32,500 to resolve its liability for CMPs under the patient dumping statute. The OIG alleged that the hospital failed to provide an appropriate medical screening examination and stabilizing treatment to two patients who presented with psychiatric emergencies (suicidal and/or hallucinating). The OIG alleged that in both cases the hospital directed patients to a county psychiatric facility because the patients lacked insurance. Both patients were admitted for treatment at the other facility.
05-14-2003
Medical Center of Manchester, a small Tennessee hospital, agreed to pay $10,000 to resolve its liability for CMPs under the patient dumping statute. The OIG alleged that the hospital failed to provide an appropriate medical screening exam to a patient who presented to its emergency department with symptoms of head trauma following a go-cart accident by failing to complete a head CT scan that had been ordered and started. The OIG alleged that when the hospital learned that it did not participate in the patient’s insurance plan, the mother of the patient was told that she would have to pay a $2,000 deposit for the exam to be completed.
05-02-2003
BHC Fort Lauderdale Hospital, Inc., Florida, agreed to pay $25,000 to resolve its liability for CMPs under the patient dumping statute. The OIG alleged that the hospital failed to provide an appropriate medical screening examination, stabilizing treatment or an appropriate transfer to two patients who presented to its emergency department displaying signs of a psychiatric emergency. Both patients were transferred via private vehicles (one by taxi) and were admitted at the receiving hospital.
04-25-2003
Marymount Medical Center, a small Kentucky hospital, agreed to pay $40,000 to resolve its liability for CMPs under the patient dumping statute. The OIG alleged that the hospital failed to provide an appropriate medical screening examination to five patients who presented to its emergency department. The OIG also alleged that the hospital failed to provide an appropriate medical screening and transfer to an individual who presented to the hospital’s emergency room in need of dialysis, which the hospital did not have the capability to provide.
04-17-2003
Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center, Florida, agreed to pay $35,000 to resolve its liability for CMPs under the patient dumping statute. The OIG alleged that the hospital failed to provide a timely medical screening examination and necessary treatment to a patient who, when she presented in its emergency room, was not ambulatory, had severe stomach pain, was shaking uncontrollably, and was incoherent. The OIG alleged that after repeated requests for help, the hospital refused any timely medical evaluation and refused to call 911 so that the patient could be seen elsewhere. The patient’s spouse drove her home and called 911, after which paramedics took her to another hospital where she was immediately admitted for suspected food poisoning and severe dehydration.
04-15-2003
Kaiser Foundation Hospital – Sunset, Los Angeles, California, agreed to pay $20,000 to resolve its liability for CMPs under the patient dumping statute. The OIG alleged that Kaiser was a hospital that had specialized capabilities or facilities that refused to accept the transfer from another hospital of an 83-year-old patient needing Kaiser’s capabilities for coronary bypass surgery. The OIG alleged that Kaiser’s cardiac surgeon refused to accept the transfer saying that the patient was too unstable to transfer and that he was going to die anyway. The patient was transferred to another hospital where he underwent successful surgery and was discharged.
04-07-2003
A Virginia obstetrician agreed to pay $15,000 to resolve his liability for CMPs under the patient dumping statute for an incident at Memorial Hospital of Martinsville and Henry County. The OIG alleged that the obstetrician failed to provide an appropriate medical screening examination, stabilizing treatment, or an appropriate transfer for a pregnant woman in labor. The OIG further alleged that the obstetrician failed to observe the patient’s labor for an adequate period of time and that he failed to take into account the patient’s history of genital herpes and precipitous delivery. The OIG alleged that the patient was discharged and sent in a private vehicle to another hospital approximately an hour away and the patient delivered her baby en route in the vehicle.
03-19-2003
Martinsville Newco (f/k/a Memorial Hospital of Martinsville and Henry County) and the Harvest Foundation of the Piedmont (f/k/a Memorial Health System), Virginia, agreed to pay $35,000 to resolve its liability for CMPs under the patient dumping statute. The OIG alleged that the hospital failed to provide an appropriate medical screening examination and stabilizing treatment to a pregnant woman in labor. The OIG further alleged that the hospital failed to take into account the patient’s history of genital herpes and precipitous delivery. The patient was allegedly observed for an inadequate period of time prior to being discharged for transfer via a private vehicle to another hospital that was approximately an hour away. The patient delivered her baby en route in the private vehicle.
03-13-2003
Ellwood City Hospital (Ellwood), a small Pennsylvania hospital, agreed to pay $5,000 to resolve its liability for CMPs under the patient dumping statute. The OIG alleged that Ellwood failed to provide a 17-year-old pregnant female in labor an appropriate medical screening examination before instructing her to proceed to another hospital 15 miles away, where her doctor had admitting privileges. The patient arrived at the other hospital prior to delivery and the child was safely delivered.
03-10-2003
Sebasticook Valley Hospital, a small hospital in Maine, agreed to pay $25,000 to resolve its liability for CMPs under the patient dumping statute and for alleged cost report fraud. The OIG alleged that the hospital failed to provide a safe transfer of a woman with post-partum active bleeding. While the decision to transfer itself was proper, the OIG alleged that the hospital did not take proper steps to ensure that the transfer was safe. The transfer did not include a trained individual to give IV blood. The patient arrived at the receiving hospital in a state of shock and required three units of blood. Another alleged patient dumping violation involved the hospital allegedly failing to perform an appropriate medical screening examination to determine whether a 19-year old pregnant woman had an emergency medical condition.
03-03-2003
A California surgeon agreed to pay $50,000 to resolve his liability for CMPs under the patient dumping statute for an incident at Mercy Medical Center Merced (d/b/a Mercy Hospital and Health Services Merced). The OIG alleged that while on call, the surgeon refused to come to the emergency room to treat a patient with mental disabilities who presented to the hospital suffering severe abdominal distress and shortness of breath. The OIG further alleged that the surgeon made derogatory comments related to the patient’s mental condition when he was contacted and asked to come to the emergency room. By the time the on-call surgeon arrived at the facility, after being called at least three times and more than one hour after initially being contacted, the patient had died.
02-10-2003
After it self-disclosed conduct to HHS, Exempla Lutheran Medical Center (Exempla), Colorado, agreed to pay $20,000 to resolve its liability for CMPs under the patient dumping statute. The OIG alleged that the hospital refused to provide an appropriate medical screening examination to an individual who presented to its emergency department pursuant to a doctor’s orders to rule out appendicitis because the hospital did not accept the individual’s insurance (Medicaid). The OIG alleged that an admissions clerk instructed the individual to go to another hospital because Exempla would not accept her Medicaid insurance. The individual drove herself to another hospital that performed a successful appendectomy that night.
02-04-2003
Memorial Hospital of Salem County, Salem, New Jersey, agreed to pay $10,000 to resolve its liability for CMPs under the patient dumping statute to settle allegations that it failed to provide appropriate medical screenings to certain individuals that presented to its emergency department.
01-23-2003
Underwood Memorial Hospital (Underwood), Woodbury, New Jersey, agreed to pay $30,000 to resolve its liability for CMPs under the patient dumping statute. The OIG alleged that the hospital failed to provide an appropriate medical screening examination to a man who presented with head injury. The OIG alleged that several hours after the hospital discharged the man, he was unresponsive and was brought to another hospital, which performed an appropriate medical screening, identified an emergency medical condition, and performed necessary surgery.
01-14-2003
Encino-Tarzana Regional Medical Center, Tarzana, California, agreed to pay $35,000 to resolve its liability for CMPs under the patient dumping statute. The OIG alleged that the hospital failed to provide appropriate stabilizing treatment, within its capability, to a patient who presented to its emergency department with a ruptured appendix. The OIG alleged that the hospital denied the appropriate treatment to this individual based on her financial status.