PA Hospital Turned Patient Away

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

A Pennsylvania hospital has been charged with violating a federal law when it turned away a patient who had arrived in an ambulance with a police escort.
In a report just made public by the state Health Department, state surveyors found that a nursing supervisor at Washington Health System Greene told police to take a behavioral patient who had displayed violent behavior to another unnamed hospital "that was better staffed and equipped to manage patients with behavioral issues."
The 23-bed facility is the only acute care hospital in Greene County in the far southwest corner of the state. The hospital boasts of having 24-hour emergency care. Hospital officials did not respond to a request for comment.
The incident occurred on April 23 and the investigation initiated April 28, but the report was not issued till July 20, apparently due to Covid-19 pandemic.
The report cites the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act which bars hospitals from turning away patients before a medical examination and assessment are performed.
"The patient did not have a medical screening prior to transfer," the report states, adding that employees confirmed that the facility failed to provide an appropriate medical screening examination."
The report notes that the hospital self reported the "non-compliance" and "was found in compliance at the time of the survey."
Despite reporting the incident, the hospital failed to file an approved Plan of Correction.
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