Twelve hospitals agreed to pay fines as part of settlements related to patient dumping last year.
Patient dumping is when a hospital refuses to treat people who may have a lack of insurance or inability to pay, or when a hospital inappropriately transfers or discharges patients to avoid providing treatment. In 1986, Congress passed the Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act to curb this practice and ensure all patients had access to emergency care regardless of their ability to pay.
According to the HHS Office of Inspector General, each settling hospital contested the allegations and denied liability. Here are the 12 hospitals that settled patient dumping allegations in 2013, according to the OIG.
1. Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne, Fla., paid $50,000 in January 2013 after the OIG alleged the 514-bed hospital failed to provide proper care to a 30-year-old pregnant woman who entered the emergency department. The patient and her baby died.
2. Sacred Heart Hospital, a now-shuttered hospital in Chicago, paid $50,000 in February 2013. The government alleged the hospital did not provide a medical screening exam for a 63-year-old woman, who was eventually transferred to another hospital via the Chicago Fire Department and pronounced dead.
3. Donalsonville (Ga.) Hospital paid $25,000 last April. According to the OIG, the hospital did not examine a patient who entered the ED and was told he had to pay at least $100 to receive treatment. The patient allegedly was discharged after deciding to not pay the fee.
4. Emory University Hospital, the Atlanta-based teaching hub of Emory Healthcare, paid $50,000 in April after the OIG alleged the hospital refused to accept a transferred patient.
5. Mercy Hospital, a 25-bed critical access hospital in Oelwein, Iowa, paid $20,000 in July. The OIG said the hospital allegedly failed to provide adequate care to a patient who entered the ED after ingesting windshield de-icer.
6. East Texas Medical Center Carthage (Texas) paid $20,000 last July to resolve allegations it did not appropriately treat a woman who was 24 weeks pregnant.
7. Mahaska Health Partnership, a critical access hospital in Oskaloosa, Iowa, paid $20,000 in July. The OIG alleged Mahaska did not provide medical screening or stabilizing treatment to a patient with a "serious" emergency medical condition.
8. St. Luke's Hospital, part of West Des Moines, Iowa-based UnityPoint Health, paid $25,000 in August. According to the OIG, the hospital allegedly transferred a patient to another facility based in part on the patient's Medicaid status.
9. Finley Hospital, a 126-bed UnityPoint hospital in Dubuque, Iowa, paid $30,000 in August after the OIG alleged the hospital transferred a patient due in part to the patient's Medicaid status.
10. Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville, Ga., paid $50,000 in September to resolve allegations it refused to accept a transferring patient.
11. Regional Medical Center in Memphis, Tenn., paid $50,000 last October. The OIG said the hospital allegedly refused ED access to a patient and told the patient to go to a nearby hospital.
12. Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, N.C., paid $50,000 in December. According to the OIG, Carolinas allegedly did not provide appropriate or stabilizing treatment to a patient who needed psychiatric care.
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