Warren Hosp. v. N.J. Dep’t of Health and Senior Servs. (Summary)

EMTALA

Warren Hosp. v. N.J. Dep’t of Health and Senior Servs., No. A-5956-10T2 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. July 8, 2013)

After emergency primary angioplasty procedures were performed on two critically ill patients at a hospital that was not licensed to provide such services, the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services fined the hospital and ordered it to hire a full-time consultant to develop transfer procedures for cardiac patients whose needs could not be met at the hospital.  The hospital sought judicial review, arguing that the Department failed to give sufficient consideration to the hospital’s obligations to stabilize the patients under EMTALA.  The Superior Court of New Jersey remanded the case to the Department to more fully develop the record on the issue of whether the hospital self-created the unacceptable risk of transfer that it relied upon by not developing and adopting effective transport procedures.