Flowers Hospital Agreed to Pay $150,000 for Allegedly Violating Patient Dumping Statute by Failing to Accept Appropriate Transfers

On July 25, 2025, Flowers Hospital (FH), Dothan, Alabama, entered into a $150,000 settlement agreement with OIG. The settlement agreement resolves allegations that FH violated the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA). Based on its investigation, OIG concluded that in May 2021, FH failed to accept the appropriate transfers of two patients when it had specialized capabilities and the capacity to treat the patients. In the first instance, the patient presented to the Emergency Department (ED) of a hospital after being assaulted and that hospital determined the patient had an emergency medical condition due to multiple facial fractures from the assault, including fractures to both sides of his lower jaw. The hospital attempted to transfer the patient to FH because they did not have an oral maxillofacial surgical (OMFS) specialist at their facility. FH’s transfer call center informed the hospital requesting the transfer that its on-call specialist would not accept the transfer because the OMFS specialist reportedly only treated patients with old trauma fractures rather than new trauma fractures. In the second instance, the patient presented to the ED of a hospital with complaints of worsening dental pain for the period of a week. A CT scan performed at that hospital revealed a dental and soft tissue abscess. The hospital did not have an OMFS specialist to treat the patient’s emergency medical condition and attempted to transfer the patient to FH. FH’s transfer call center informed the hospital that FH’s on-call OMFS specialist declined the patient transfer because he did not understand why the hospital would be transferring the patient to FH when it was not the closest facility with physicians able to perform stabilizing treatment. The patient was transferred by ambulance from the hospital to another hospital in Atlanta, Georgia.