ECU Health Medical Center Agreed to Pay $119,000 for Allegedly Violating Patient Dumping Statute by Failing to Provide an Appropriate Medical Screening Examination

On May 9, 2025, Pitt County Memorial Hospital d/b/a ECU Health Medical Center f/d/b/a Vidant Medical Center (ECU), Greenville, North Carolina, entered into a $119,942 settlement agreement with OIG. The settlement agreement resolves allegations that ECU violated the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA). Based on its investigation, OIG concluded that in March 2022, ECU failed to provide an appropriate medical screening examination to a patient who presented to ECU. Specifically, the patient lived in an assisted living facility (ALF). The ALF called the police due to a psychiatric incident involving the patient. The police secured the scene and an ambulance took the patient to ECU’s Emergency Department (ED) for evaluation and treatment. The patient had a medical history which included: “Behavior – Dementia (with behavioral disturbances), Behavior – Major Depression; Behavior – Manic Episodes.” The patient was assigned an Emergency Severity Index of 3 and asked to wait to be seen. 106 minutes later, the patient went to the hospitality desk, stating that he was going to leave and “walk himself back.” A nurse observed that he did not have an IV and did not appear in distress. No one at the ED determined whether he was competent to make the decision to leave the ED or to get back to his residence alone. In addition, no one notified a family member or anyone at the ALF that he was leaving the hospital. Subsequently, the patient’s sister called the hospital because the patient never returned to his ALF. Soon thereafter, the patient was found dead on the property of a local rehabilitation facility of which he was not a patient. The patient’s recent actions and his medical history required a determination by a qualified medical provider to determine if the patient had capacity to make decisions for himself. If not, the patient could be considered for an involuntary hold. In addition, with a history of dementia, the patient needed to be closely monitored so as not to walk out into the community and become lost.

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