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Hospital files lawsuit against woman who wouldn't leave

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BY MARK ANDERSEN / Lincoln Journal Star

Friday, Oct 10, 2008 - 01:03:55 am CDT

Saint Elizabeth Regional Medical Center has filed a lawsuit against a woman who refused to leave the hospital after being discharged.

Gayle Strohacker was hospitalized Aug. 22, according to documents filed in district court. She was discharged sometime thereafter but refused to leave the hospital until Wednesday.

The hospital’s complaint filed Oct. 3 in Lancaster County District Court said Strohacker ran up a bill of $124,888, and the hospital seeks payment plus 12 percent annual interest, as spelled out by Nebraska statute.

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The court summons said:

“On or about August 22, 2008, and continuing thereafter, the defendant became indebted to the plaintiff for ongoing medical services, goods, supplies and care provided to her at the defendant’s special insistence and request.”

It later adds: “Defendant continues to receive services from plaintiff as defendant refuses to check out of plaintiff’s facility despite the fact that defendant has been discharged.”

The summons was directed to Room 123 of Saint Elizabeth, where a person who had no knowledge of Strohacker answered the phone this week.

On Thursday, Saint Elizabeth issued the following statement:

“The only intention of Saint Elizabeth throughout this complex patient situation has been to find Ms. Strohacker the most appropriate level of care possible.

“And as of yesterday, Wednesday, October 8, we have found an assisted living facility for her to complete her rehabilitation.

“Saint Elizabeth always provides medically necessary care for any patient regardless of their situation or ability to pay.

“Saint Elizabeth took the step of placing the lien against her property — a step which can be reversed at any time — until other financial arrangements can be established.”

Federal medical privacy laws prohibit the hospital from releasing health information without a patient’s approval. No other information was available.

Reach Mark Andersen at 473-7238 or mandersen@journalstar.com.


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Sarah wrote on October 10, 2008 4:47 am:
" Isn't 12% annual interest a little steep? I realize thats the Nebraska statute. The medical facilities in the state must have good lobbyists. "

 Unfortunate wrote on October 10, 2008 5:57 am:
" So she could not live until she was placed in assisted living, therefore it sounds as if she was unable to leave. "

 Just me wrote on October 10, 2008 7:35 am:
" Good for her! Obviously she will not likely ever pay the bill if she is in a rehabilitation hospital and with the economy the way it is but she stood her ground until the hospital "found an assisted living facility for her to complete her rehabilitation" as is their policy according to them. They stated that “The only intention of Saint Elizabeth throughout this complex patient situation has been to find Ms. Strohacker the most appropriate level of care possible". She should not have as high a bill IF her insurance company (I realize I am assuming that she has it) had continued to cover her care until appropriate care was found. Hopefully, she will be able to negotiate a fairer amount and actually pay for the care she did recieve but not at amounts that probably should have been covered anyway. "

 Buddha wrote on October 10, 2008 7:36 am:
" Actually, that 12% interest rate applies to ANY civil lawsuit filed in Nebraska. Matter of fact, if any attorney wanted to get down and dirty, he/she could demand 12% interest on someone's back pay for child support owed. You want to make money? Sue someone in Nebraska District court, and you could probably make as much off the interest as you could off the principal. Just rack up the bill, and wait till the statute of limitations is about to run out and file the suit. "

 CS wrote on October 10, 2008 7:58 am:
" Property Tax Sales are 14%, so this is actually a bit of a break. "

 Family wrote on October 10, 2008 8:19 am:
" Where was her family during this? I was brought up to take care of my family and I would no matter what the cost in time or dollars. If someone needs to be in a care facility, it would be best for the family to research them and find the best for the care needed. "

 All the same wrote on October 10, 2008 9:01 am:
" Insurance may be at fault here, but St. E's, Bryan...these hospitals are all the same. When patients reach a 2-week stay, the goal of the hospital is to discharge them by any means because of insurance caps. I found this when my mother was dying of pancreatic cancer and was only semi-conscious when we moved her to a hospice facility. When I was hospitalized long-term the first time in my life for an intestinal infection, I found this out myself. Once I hit the 2 week mark, although the team of dr's had finally determined the source of infection and were treating it, I still couldn't walk on my own or digest food, and pain levels were at a 7. However, the head nurse, and I still remember her name to this day, refused to administer a prescribed pain medication. The infection was severe enough I was on a morphine pump the first 9 days. My family heard her tell the other nurses I had reached the 2 week mark and I was to be called a drug addict if I requested pain meds. As a non-drug user of ANY kind, I was appalled at the behavior of these medical professionals. I checked myself out that day and wrote a letter to the hospital, but I was never contacted. "

 Health care is a human right wrote on October 10, 2008 10:15 am:
" $125,000? Are you kidding me? Wealthiest country in the world, and this kind of stuff happens. HEALTH CARE IS A HUMAN RIGHT. I guess you can pay for a lot of doctor and hospital admin's country club memberships and BMWs. Awesome. "

 to Health Care.... wrote on October 10, 2008 11:46 am:
" don't blaim the dr's and hospitals for making money. remember, you need them, that's why the bills are so high. you want to complain about the money they make, go to school as long as they did and spend the money on loans. maybe you will understand. let them have their country club memberships and bmw's. they deserve it. "

 CS wrote on October 10, 2008 12:00 pm:
" The doctors don't set the rates. They are handsomely compensated, but so are engineers and other professionals that have post graduate degrees and 200,000 dollars in student loan debt-as they should be. This isn't about the doctors, or even the admins-this is about the insurance company's and what they cover and do not cover. "

 know the system wrote on October 10, 2008 12:52 pm:
" Physicians ar not longer "handsomely compensated" in today's current market. Insurance companies and Medicare are drastically cutting their profit, but still hold them accountable to treat patients at the highest level. To demand a certain level of health care is not a right. In this country we are priveleged to have so much technology and options. But just because it is all available, doesn't mean it is always right to use it. I also agree, where is her family? I think it is outrageous for a patient to refuse to leave when she has been deemed dimissable by those who take care of patients and evaluate their status every day.Why would you want to stay? There are sick people in the hospital. Why take your chances of getting sicker by refusing to go home? "

 BA wrote on October 10, 2008 1:50 pm:
" It's unfortunate that hospitals can charge 12% interest and file liens against your residence under state law. If Ms. Strohacker had been an illegal alien, the hospital would have charged uncle sam or written off the charges. Hospitals are forcing too many legal Americans into bankruptchy because of their exorbatant costs. "

 Know the system too wrote on October 10, 2008 2:28 pm:
" Physicians and hospitals do not set the rules. Hospitals must follow criteria and a patient must meet the criteria in order for their stay to be covered by insurance/Medicare/etc. If patients wanted to stay as long as they want, hospitals would be broke. Apparently, this patient was not sick enough for acute care and didn't want to go to a nursing home. I don't blame the hospital at all. This patient took up a bed that could have been used by someone sicker than her, not considering all the nursing time too. "

 pam wrote on October 10, 2008 9:17 pm:
" The hospital probably made arrangements for the pt.-her family was probably supposed to care for her and then backed out when they decided they couldn't/wouldn't care for her. If the doctor's felt she could be discharged, then she should have gone back home. It sounds like she lied about her ability to care for herself, tried to buy some more time in the hospital, and now is in an assisted living facility. The pt. and/or the family should have been honest if this is the case. Hospitals are not hotels-they can't afford to keep you there forever! Some pts. enjoy the care, food, etc. so much they never want to leave-especially psych pts. If other services and families were better equipped/able to care for these people, hospitals would not have this problem. This is not the first pt. to overstay their welcome. That is one of the reasons costs are so high! "

 what about wrote on October 10, 2008 9:57 pm:
" in this time of safe haven chatter what about parents who drop off children at a local hospitals psych ward stating the child/children are out of control just because they want a few days off from parenting or a new batch is at hand. Who do you think is picking up the tab on that one since most of them doing it are themselves on medicare "

 St. Es wrote on October 11, 2008 2:11 am:
" Go ahead, pick on "The Man". The hospitals are just out to make money right? Then the next time the Emergency Department is full of people with minor scrapes and cuts, colds, etc think about the time that is spent on minor occurences such as these versus the more major cases. Abiding my medicare/medicaid guidelines could be a 4 year college major in and of itself. You can beat on the hospitals all you want, but the fact is that we care for anyone and everyone who comes through those doors regardless of inability to pay etc etc. The hospitals lose hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars annually covering for those patients who are unable to pay. Whether that be someone who has fallen on hard times or has no insurance OR suffered a critical injury due to cooking meth...they are all treated and treated well. "

 mj wrote on October 11, 2008 11:10 am:
" In order for hospitals to get paid for the care they dispence, criteria is set by insurance companies and the government that must be followed. To not follow the criteria means that not only will the hospital not receive any financial compensation for the care that was given beyond the allotted time, but that ALL care given will be financially negated. Criterias are set so that everyone (hospitals, care givers, insurance companies, the government, and yes, patients) are held to the same standards. To play favoritism towards one patient's needs (or demands) over another, for whatever reason, will lead to chaos within the system.
And if you make a choice to go against the set criteria, then there are consequences that can erupt from those choices, in this case, financial. "

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