Hospital Goes to Court to Evict Patient in Fight Over a Bed

Usually, when a person goes to the hospital and is released, the patient leaves when the doctor gives the okay. I know we do....we can't wait to leave the place!

However, not in this particular case.

A Connecticut hospital had to go to court to evict a patient who refused to leave the facility in a fight over a bed, but has been unable to put the case to rest.

St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center managed to finally get Margo Smith to leave after 27 days -- 23 days after she was discharged -- and after Smith's health care provider sent a special bed to her home.

But Smith is unhappy with the bed and is now petitioning for a better bed.

abcnews.go.com...

Smith was admitted to St. Francis with pneumonia and a urinary tract infection on Sept. 22, but refused to leave after doctors discharged her four days later, according to a lawsuit filed with the Hartford Superior Court on Friday.

Smith left the hospital later that day after the court ruled in the hospital's favor, but both sides are accusing the other of unpleasant behavior.

According to the article, the hospital sought help from the court to have her removed so that they could use the bed, which was an acute level bed for patients with medical needs.

-- She stayed 23 days after release date--

Evidently she had her old hospital bed at home removed, claiming it was deemed unsafe, and expected to stay in the hospital until she was furnished with a $37,000 hospital bed.

The lawsuit also claims the "defendant has been verbally and physically abusive to staff, and often becomes belligerent and disruptive, resulting in numerous complaints from other patients."

Of course, the patient denied these reports, and said she was treated unfairly.

Smith told ABCNews.com she is confined to bed because of a paralyzing arthritis and a condition that has resulted in her hip and pelvis being fused together.

"Prior to her release, social services had sent a new bed to Smith's home, but it was the wrong one, Smith claimed. And she is unhappy with the replacement bed."



Now, I can understand needing outside help but the hospital is not the one responsible for home care or replacing beds.
In fact, most hospitals have a social worker that can help you out and point you in the right direction as far as contacting the correct individuals.

I know, unfortunately we've had to use their help in the past when not sure what to do or where to get certain equipment.

This lady clearly abused her stay and expected a hand out from the hospital. They did their part and treated her for what she had been admitted for.

As far as allergies goes, my husband gets a rash when he stays there due to the bleach used when washing the sheets. But instead of bitching & complaining about it, I bring a t-shirt and a towel for him to lay on and deal with the rash when we get home.

If people were allowed to stay in a hospital for no reason other than for 'convenience', well then the people, such as my husband, who are truly in dire need of medical help, would be left without a room.

Just goes to show....you try to help some one by treating them and yet they expect more.


Part of the 'entitlement' problem????
Never satisfied?
Possibly


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ETA: MODS not sure which forum to put this in, move if need be....thanks

reply to post by snarky412


She should have been thrown on her *** into the street. What a lazy cow.

reply to post by snarky412

Part of the 'entitlement' problem????
Never satisfied?
Possibly

Whether this geniunely happened, (I stopped believing news long ago, and think its all propaganda), because there are many types of people, and some who are in extreme pain and house, even bed ridden as this women is, can flip out and not take it anymore, or its a story to get people upset with the disabled.
With that kind of arthritis, you feel everything. I couldn't sleep in a normal bed and needed first of all no strange base, like futon with metal bars it has to be flat and straight and good support. Then it had to have layers of soft and memory foam which is not even good for you, in order to even sleep. And if its not at the right height, can't get out of bed, would need a walker.

Now she can't get out at all and has bones and hip fused and is great deal of pain. Think she needs a proper bed that enables her to live.

Its less than the price of a truck brand new, but if the ministry looked around, bet they could find one for the price of a second hand truck if they dealt with the mattress.

But material things ARE NOT EQUAL TO HUMAN LIFE AND DIGNITY.

But I don't see anyone, not those on welfare, not those in ghettos or public housing or on food stamps, or middle class, or working, anyone, with the 'entitlement' problem

Because every single person on this planet is entitled to full and equal land and resources without slavery and the only ENTITLEMENT PROBLEM I notice, is the small group at the top who think they own everything and can force you down to lower rungs workign to pay for what was already yours, and a lot better than the slums. There is lots of land for people, we should all be on our own farms, the world fits in LA shoulder to shoulder.

EveryOne gets a trophy... | can only blame MySelf.

EDIT: And ACA/ObamaCare or whatever they are calling it this week, will only get cheaper. |'ll bet this patient is just waiting until her medical history is brought up and she can sue due to HIPPA violation and really ¢a$h out... | have a broken back/neck and get by w/a Sleep Number™ hmmm, but there are NO Nurses, or any volunteers that sit there and listen to You bitch and moan. Start charging her and take away the remote, feed her bread and water and unplug the nurse's alarm and see how long she milks...

This is right up there with #1) the Tampa "mother" of 15 who asked the news "who is responsible for these kids"? or #2) the Memphis female who was outside a burned down house where she lost a 2 and 3 y.o. relative (she was the aunt) and she was joking around about her food stamps being in the apartment...

dis-heartening

reply to post by Restricted


Based on her condition and the reality that she very well could have been wronged, considering she's a Human Being; I have to strongly disagree with you. You're the same type of person who would ridicule the lady who sued McDonalds over spilt coffee and won millions, but it's because you don't fully understand the story. None of us do [know the truth behind this article]. This is all very vague content.

If she was really sent the wrong bed, and she painfully suffers on a daily basis; I could completely understand the Human aspect of not wanting to leave the one comfortable spot you have access to, period. We don't know who could be at fault for delivering the wrong bed, if it was the wrong bed, but this lady's obvious concern was for her own well-being. She had absolutely nothing to accomplish by staying there, other than pursing her own happiness by being comfortable and without pain, and perhaps a pipe-dream of getting a bed quicker, which she, according to this article, still hasn't received after almost a full month.

Let me ask you a question on the integrity of the hospital; why would they wait until after she's been forced out to reach out to the media? If this story is really worth being in the National spotlight, why didn't it surface weeks ago when this all started? Don't be so quick to pick sides, that's the problem with our community now and the main reason we can't be united. We share a common goal, but too often judgement is premature, and divided.

Now is the time, if ever, that we move to become more united as a community. We are all here for the truth, not for the speculation. I'm only defending the patient based on the content of the article, and nothing else. The article never mentions the company's responsibility to deliver a proper bed, if the bed was right or wrong, and it doesn't include any input from the patient at all. If anything, based on the common attributes of related stories which have surfaced over the past few years, the article conforms to the hospitals views, meaning they left out all the details pertaining to any and all wrong-doing they may or may not have attributed to in specific relation to this case.

reply to post by Unity_99


I believe the point to the story is she was admitted for pneumonia and a urinary tract infection ONLY.
Once there, she liked the hospital bed and wanted to stay until she got one like it and refused to leave.

Sadly, that's not the way it works.
And to force the hospital to go to those extremes to get her to leave [court], well she sounded like she believed she was entitled, instead of going through the proper channels.

I'm sorry for her state of health but that is what social workers are for.
It's not the hospital's place to house her, only to treat her.

I can't even imagine a person demanding that bed and sticking to it and refusing to leave, when there are so many other people in need of that bed, at a higher level of triage now, since her issues she was admitted for was resolved! Yes, she's looking out for her own well-being and comfort and that's fine, but not at the expense of others! That's where her needs and rights, infringe upon another person's GREATER needs and rights at the moment.

As a nurse - you have no idea how many people I came across, who have tried to milk their stay in the hospital. Usually to stay in their state of euphoria from the dilaudid drip.

Now if this woman is willing to take an extended stay in the hospital by refusal to leave - she should be more than willing to go live at an assisted living facility. There is also in-home nursing care which she might benefit from. As to the bed... well I don't really see how that was the hospital's responsibility and not a social/caseworker's.

CdT

reply to post by snarky412


I don't think it's the same sort of sense of entitlement that you are referring to exactly, but more the sense of entitlement of someone who is old, in pain, crotchity as heck...... and probably doesn't have many people that interact with her at home.

The whole issue may not be as much about feeling entitled to a particular bed as it is about how sometimes as people age they revert almost to a childlike state and want attention..... and bad attention is better than no attention. My guess would be even if she were given the Cadillac of all hospital beds she would still be raising a fuss!

reply to post by SubliminalProof


I'm not human, so I don't care.

She took up a critical care bed better occupied by someone sicker than her.

reply to post by CirqueDeTruth


I deal with this same problem every single day. Too many people view the local hospital as the Hospital Hilton. They hop from hospital to hospital, even crossing county lines. Every admission is a battle. They are rude, demanding and usually allergic to every medication except their narcotic of choice, more times than not, Dilaudid.

This is a huge problem. Add to it that most don't even have insurance, so they wine and dine or our dime, with free Wifi.