Hill Hospital of Sumter County Agreed to Pay $20,000 for Allegedly Violating Patient Dumping Statute by Failing to Provide an Appropriate Medical Screening Examination, Stabilizing Treatment and Transfer

On February 12, 2024, Hill Hospital of Sumter County (Hill Hospital), a small hospital in York, Alabama, entered into a $20,000 settlement agreement with OIG. The settlement agreement resolves allegations that Hill Hospital violated the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) when it failed to provide an appropriate medical screening examination, stabilizing treatment, and transfer for a patient. Specifically, a 52-year-old female, presented to Hill Hospital’s Emergency Department (ED) at approximately 1:53 p.m. via private vehicle accompanied by two family members. The patient, who had Down Syndrome, presented with a complaint of altered mental status and was described as non-communicative and not alert. The patient had been treated at Hill Hospital on two occasions during the previous week and had been discharged with a Urinary Tract Infection, dehydration and anemia. Upon arrival to the ED on February 5, the patient was registered and transported by wheelchair to the ED waiting room. At 2:18 p.m., an ED physician approached the patient and her family and recommended that they seek treatment elsewhere because Hill Hospital was unable to treat her. At 2:23 p.m., the ED physician escorted the patient and her family out of the ED to their private vehicle. The patient was transported by wheelchair to the vehicle and was placed in the backseat of the vehicle facedown. The ED physician did not examine or treat the patient and did not make arrangements for her transfer to another facility. Senior Counsels Sandra Sands and Tessa Devereaux represented OIG.

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