Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
Feb
14
Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
“…We Only Treat Our Patients Here.”
“Well, if you have an emergency, you need to have someone drive you to your doctor, because we only treat our patients here.” – CNM Midwife to mother who arrived at the hospital unscheduled for a suspected problem during pregnancy.
There are 22 comments to this post.
I’m pretty sure it’s ILLEGAL to refuse treatment to someone who comes into a hospital with a medical emergency. Isn’t it?
Please tell me this crime was reported to the proper authorities, and the responsible party was disciplined (or better yet, fired and bodily removed from the premises by security)!
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Jennible Reply:
February 14th, 2011 at 5:15 pm (Quote)
She was reported but nothing was done. She got away with it which infuriates me even more. She was the one who made the “i’ll cut you” threat in the previous submission as well.
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Jane Reply:
February 14th, 2011 at 5:34 pm (Quote)
Did you report her just to the hospital or also to the state licensing board? They would be interested in this.
Also, if your insurance paid for this ER visit, let THEM know that the hospital refused to treat you and that you were threatened. The insurance company will be very interested to hear this.
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Sheva Reply:
February 14th, 2011 at 7:31 pm (Quote)
Yes, it’s illegal under EMTALA to turn a patient away. I forgot what it stands for, though.
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Alyson Miers Reply:
February 14th, 2011 at 7:51 pm (Quote)
IIRC it’s the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act.
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genniemom Reply:
February 15th, 2011 at 7:00 am (Quote)
It’s illegal to turn someone away if there is a true emergency, but if it’s not an emergency situation, you can direct them to another hospital. If you’re not equipped to handle their problem or their insurance is not accepted at your hospital, you can stabilize them and transfer them to the appropriate hospital. So, if OP was coming in with a concern that is not an emergency, she was okay in turning her away. Nobody gave her a license to be rude or to perform surgery, though. She was definitely out of line. Also, since we know that the problem was suspected uterine rupture, that is a true emergency. OP should have been evaluated, stabilized, and transferred or rushed to the appropriate hospital by ambulance.
Personally, I would have just kept screaming and screaming until someone helped me. Nothing like screaming to get a lazy midwife’s butt moving.
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Hmmm… pretty sure it’s illegal to turn anyone away from a hospital er for any reason in this country. You reported her to the state medical board, right?
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Sarah Dorrance-Minch Reply:
February 14th, 2011 at 5:33 pm (Quote)
Try reporting her to ACNM. They’d probably care more about purging someone from their ranks who made nurse midwifery look bad.
Also, attending a blessingway which was attended mostly by doulas, I found out just how much doulas gossip about care providers. You could really ruin that CNM’s reputation and livelihood.
And don’t forget online “grade your care professional” sites. 
Angie’s List is only one of many opportunities for this.
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Kat Reply:
February 14th, 2011 at 6:11 pm (Quote)
All VERY good ideas. Once “proper channels” have been followed, it’s time to let word of mouth “advertising” let people know what sort of “care” this person deems acceptable behavior, and hope you can spare others from her particular brand of “compassion” as much as possible.
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The Deranged Housewife Reply:
February 15th, 2011 at 4:28 am (Quote)
I agree. Talk to local birth advocacy groups, even the local media. Unfortunately these days – really, probably for decades – people just seem to think this kind of treatment is normal and appropriate as if the pregnant woman has no control or rights over her own body simply because she’s pregnant. I’ve heard people say idiotic things like, “Don’t expect to be consulted about any procedure,” as if this kind of thing is normal and to be expected. Unfortunately, not only do doctors and nurses agree, but so does the media, the general public, our insurance companies and the legal system. 
http://thederangedhousewifeonline.blogspot.com/2011/02/obstetrical-bs-series-membrane-sweeps.html
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Debra Reply:
February 14th, 2011 at 8:48 pm (Quote)
Actually, it’s perfectly legal to refuse to accept a patient at the ER if it’s not a true medical emergency. If I show up at a private hospital because I stubbed my toe, they can send me away. But first they do the insurance biopsy. If I have insurance, they’ll find a way to justify a full workup including a CT scan. No insurance and they’d escort me out the door.
I don’t know enough about OP’s situation to know if it would have been considered a medical emergency by a reasonable doctor.
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Stephanie - Home with the Kids Reply:
February 14th, 2011 at 9:56 pm (Quote)
Considering she said “if you have an emergency” you need to go to your own doctor, I’d at least say she’s not interested in caring for someone not her own patient in an emergency.
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Annie Beth had this to say,
Feb 15, 2011 @ 5:12 am (Quote)
LOL isn’t that the point of a HOSPITAL? To be UNSCHEDULED??
Patient: *calls hospital* Hello, I’m an established patient here. I’m going to have a heart attack in about 3 weeks. Please schedule me for exactly 9:32 pm.
Geeez louise…
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Ugh! This reminds me of a political cartoon that I saw a few years ago. (Shoot! I can’t find it online anymore!) An ambulance is pulling up to an ER entrance, and there’s a valet standing on a podium and a sign that reads: RESERVATIONS ONLY. Obviously, it was a remark on the egregious state of our health care system, but I can also see where it would apply in the OP’s case.
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Add Your Comment.
I’m wondering if this is the same one who gave us the “I’ll cut you” gem. :-b
In my ignorance, I thought “Emergency Rooms” were for emergencies. Who knew you had to schedule an emergency only to happen when you were with your primary care provider.
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Jennible Reply:
February 14th, 2011 at 4:40 pm Jennible(Quote)
They are from the same MEDwife I had to deal with. Doesn’t she sound like just a peach? She said a LOT more but these two quotes were the worst part of the garbage that came spewing out of this woman’s mouth. I swear if I hadn’t been doubled over in pain i’d of beaten her the entire way back down to the ER.
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Rose Linde Reply:
February 14th, 2011 at 5:47 pm Rose Linde(Quote)
How old was this person? Not that that makes any difference in how horrible this was; I’m just wondering if this was someone at the end of her career who should have retired long ago, someone new who was clearly ill-trained, or what.
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