Assignment Task: On January 28, 2014, Chris, who is uninsured, came to the Bosse Medical Center emergency room complaining of an extremely high fever, cough and shortness of breath, was screened and was later that day admitted to the hospital as having severe dehydration and lung disease. During the course of Chris' inpatient treatment at the Bosse Medical Center, it was determined that he suffered from bilateral pneumonia, Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome ("ARDS"), and significant lung damage.
Between January 29 - 30th, 2014, while Chris' condition was at all times unstable, various doctors and nurses associated with the Bosse Medical Center attempted to transfer him out of the hospital on eight separate occasions because Chris did not have health insurance.
Chris alleges that on February 1, 2014, two of Chris' doctors falsely certified that he was stable for transfer from the hospital. At 3:35 am, EMS personnel arrived to collect Chris from the Bosse Medical Center. He was placed into the ambulance owned and operated by Bosse Medical Center. After driving off the hospital property, Chris went into cardiac arrest. He was brought back inside the Bosse Medical Center where he was resuscitated and admitted and placed on a ventilator in the ICU.
Chris remained at Bosse Medical Center until February 24, 2014, at which time he was discharged to his home. It appears that Chris' condition was unstable at that time. On February 26, 2014, just two days after discharge from the hospital, Chris' medical condition deteriorated. A Bosse Medical Center owned and operated ambulance collected Chris from his home but did not even get out of Chris' driveway. An ER medical doctor, in radio contact with the ambulance, refused to treat Chris on the sole grounds that there was "no pulmonologist available to evaluate and treat him at the hospital". The ambulance EMTs thought of Betterment Hospital, who had facilities to provide the necessary treatment to Chris. They called Betterment Hospital who agreed to accept the transfer. The ambulance transported Chris to the Betterment Medical Center without a screening.
Upon arriving at Betterment, Chris was admitted to the ICU and a medical examination uncovered that Chris was suffering from significant lung damage, and that "[h]is lung has been collapsed to some degree for quite some time..." On February 29, 2014, Betterment physicians performed surgery on Chris to repair his lung.
Identify and assess all the bases for Bosse Medical Center's liability under EMTALA that Chris is likely to assert, and any defenses Bosse may claim. Structure your answer using the below headers, with discussion of the associated considerations during each time period. Utilize introduction and conclusion paragraphs as you deem necessary to provide context and/or expound necessary legal considerations.
- Introduction
- January 28
- January 29-30
- February 1
- February 24
- February 26
- Conclusion