You are the hospital administrator for a county hospital, which is funded in a large part by that county’s property taxes.

Legal Dilemma

You are the hospital administrator for a county hospital, which is funded in a large part by that county’s property taxes. You discover that you have an indigent patient who has been mistakenly admitted as an inpatient to the hospital strictly for dialysis treatment. The hospital does not, as a general practice, provide only dialysis treatment for patients. This is beyond the scope of the hospital’s mandate and is therefore, an inappropriate use of local property tax funding.

If the indigent patient is discharged from the hospital and dialysis treatment is terminated, the patient will become toxic and experience severe physical consequences, even death. However, if the patient is kept in the hospital for purposes of dialysis treatment only, the hospital must assume the burden of the patient’s debt, without revenue to cover the associated cost.

• Definition of the problem.
• Identification of the stakeholders.
• Identification of alternative solutions.
• Evaluation of alternative solutions.
• Solution chosen and how to implement it with the stakeholders.