Patient dumping needn’t be accepted

Dr. Leonard Kreisler, Las Vegas

Sunday, June 9, 2013 | 2 a.m.

As University Medical Center’s chief of staff from 1982-83, I personally dealt with inappropriate and illegal transfers from other hospitals, commonly called dumping.

Two example of many occurrences: The first was egregious. A patient was brought to a local hospital emergency room with a knife sticking out of his chest. Looking less than prosperous and not checking to see that he had good insurance, the hospital ER taped the knife to the chest “to keep it from wobbling,” put the patient on a gurney and sent him to UMC.

I instructed UMC’s administrator to immediately summon the hospital’s administrator and medical chief of staff to UMC. I told them in no uncertain terms that if it happened again while I was chief of the medical staff at UMC, they would be brought into court with the addition of as much media coverage as we could get. It never happened again on my watch.

The second case involved another hospital. I got a call from the assistant administrator at UMC around 10 p.m. A well-known, very competent, respected thoracic surgeon was trying to transfer a patient whose insurance benefits had run out.

The assistant administrator told me he was trying to contact the surgeon to see if he was aware of what the hospital staff was trying to do, but he couldn’t get the surgeon to pick up the phone.

I called and asked for the surgeon, whom I knew very well. As a physician calling, I was put right through. I explained that I would not allow such a transfer; it was illegal, unethical and inappropriate. The transfer was never made.

The point I am making: UMC’s administrator and chief of staff not only have the tools, they are obligated to pursue such illegal transfers in court. Aside from being illegal, the transfers may very well be compromising patient care. Let’s stop talking about egregious behavior; let’s take it to court.