Northshore University Health System Agreed to Pay $105,000 for Allegedly Violating Patient Dumping Statute by Failing to Provide an Appropriate Medical Screening Examination

On July 2, 2026, Northshore University Health System-Evanston (Northshore), Evanston, Illinois, entered into a $105,000 settlement agreement with OIG. The settlement agreement resolves allegations that Northshore violated the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA). Based on its investigation, OIG concluded that in February 2025, Northshore failed to provide an appropriate medical screening examination to a 64-year-old patient who presented to Northshore’s Emergency Department with a chief complaint of leg pain and nausea. The patient was registered at 10:53 a.m. and triaged at 11:15 a.m. The triage exam included taking his vitals, which revealed a heart rate of 126, and he was assigned an ESI level of 2. The patient was then placed in the waiting room in a wheelchair. Northshore did not reassess the patient or check his vials until he was found slumped over and unresponsive in his wheelchair at 8:55 p.m. The patient was found to be in cardiac arrest and CPR was quickly initiated.