Florida Hospital Settles Case Involving a Patient Dumping Allegation

On November 30, 2016, Okaloosa Hospital, Inc. d/b/a Twin Cities Hospital (Twin Cities), a small hospital in Niceville, Florida, entered into a $20,000 settlement agreement with OIG. The settlement agreement resolves allegations that Twin Cities violated the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act when it failed to provide an appropriate medical screening examination and stabilizing treatment of a 56-year-old male patient who was experiencing difficulty breathing and was unstable. Twin Cities’ Emergency Department staff met the emergency medical transport in the ambulance bay and redirected the transport to another hospital, where the patient previously received treatment. Twin Cities failed to provide the patient with a medical screening examination or stabilizing treatment before redirecting the emergency medical transport. The patient died shortly after arriving at the other hospital. Twin Cities self-reported the incident shortly thereafter. Under EMTALA, a small hospital can be fined up to $25,000 per violation. Senior Counsel Geeta Taylor represented OIG.

Share