State agency fines Fla. hospital that forced dying woman from ER
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Florida's health care agency issued a $45,000 fine to the hospital where a black woman died after being forcibly removed from the emergency room by a white police officer.
The Agency for Health Care Administration lists four counts against Calhoun-Liberty Hospital in a 30-page administrative complaint issued Wednesday. Three counts are related to access to emergency care and services, and one count is for failure to evaluate a patient grievance.
Last week the agency released a report from its investigation where the 25-bed facility was cited for 10 deficiencies. AHCA Secretary Elizabeth Dudek called those deficiencies "egregious."
The fines come after the death of Barbara Dawson, a 57-year-old woman who was treated in the emergency room Dec. 21 but refused to leave when she was discharged because she didn't think she was well. She was handcuffed by Blountstown Police Officer John Tadlock and collapsed when he tried to put her in a patrol car. She died about 90 minutes later.
Two counts -- each a $10,000 fine -- cite the hospital's failure to follow their policies on assessment and reassessment in the emergency room. The first count is related to the Dawson case, and the second is for a patient in the emergency room who was never treated. The complaint says the ER was staffed by a nurse practitioner who was not able to dispense medication. The patient told investigators that they never saw a physician or the nurse practitioner during the visit.
The third count is for failing to address access to emergency services in terms of quality of care and how the ER was managed. Because it had to do with two patients, the total fine levied was $20,000.
The final count is a $5,000 fine for not evaluating a complaint after the patient was turned away from the ER and not implementing its own incident report system for two patients.
The facility must submit correction plans by Friday and have them in place by March 1 to avoid being suspended from Florida's Medicaid program.
Hospital CEO Ruth Attaway told CBS affiliate WCTV last week that the hospital started to take steps to fix the problems, especially involving the emergency room.
"Yes it was a negative report but we'll use it as a springboard. From this we will shore up our defenses. We will correct the issues that are out there and we will come out of this better than ever before," Attaway said.
Attaway said in a statement that they are "committed to moving our hospital forward so we can provide quality health care to our residents, and this is one more step in that process. Having this information is certainly better than operating under a looming unknown factor."
The Blountstown Police Department, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Florida Department of Health also have ongoing investigations.
Dashcam audio and video released last month by Blountstown police showed a nearly 18-minute gap between the time Dawson collapsed and when she was taken back to the emergency room for a second time. AHCA also viewed the audio and video as part of its investigation.
"We have heard that time and time again how everyone was acting with due speed to assist her. Now that we have that tape we know that is not true," attorney Darryl Parks said after the video was released. "There was not deliberate speed and who was assessing her at the side of the car was inconsistent."