Hospital sues to boot 'belligerent' patient from acute-care bed
A Connecticut hospital has filed a state-court lawsuit against a “belligerent” patient, contending that she refuses to comply with a discharge order and continues to occupy her acute-care bed at the facility.
Margo Smith has been examined by the St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center’s psychiatry department and “deemed to have capacity,” Courthouse News reports. However, she refuses to go home or accept a transfer to a skilled nursing facility, the five-page complaint contends, and has even had a hospital bed removed from her home to impede her discharge.
The Hartford hospital—which is represented by David Haught of Cooney, Scully, and Dowling—is asking for a temporary injunction requiring Smith to comply with its discharge order. It isn’t clear from the Courthouse News article how St. Francis plans to enforce the court order, if it is granted.
