Florida Hospital Settles Case Involving Patient Dumping Allegation

On May 6, 2019, Park Royal Hospital (Park Royal), Fort Meyers, Florida, entered into a $52,414 settlement agreement with OIG. The settlement agreement resolves allegations that, based on OIG's investigation, Park Royal violated the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) when it failed to accept a transfer of a patient with an unstablilized emergency medical condition, from the emergency department of another hospital. The patient presented to that hospital's emergency department following a suicide attempt and was diagnosed with lacerations to the wrist and an emergency psychiatric condition. Park Royal is a hospital with specialized psychiatric capabilities. OIG alleged that Park Royal refused to accept a transfer of the patient, despite having the specialized capabilities to stabilize the patient and the capacity at the time of transfer, because the patient's insurance was out of network. Senior Counsel Geeta Taylor represented OIG.

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