The patient in Room 373 refuses to leave.
Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare earlier this month sued the patient, saying she has refused to depart her hospital room since being discharged last October. The hospital also has asked a state judge in Tallahassee for an injunction ordering the patient to vacate the hospital room and authorizing the county sheriff’s office to assist if necessary.
The hospital said that resources have been diverted from helping other patients because of her occupation of the room.
Sounds like the source of the problem is referenced here:
If she’s in a state where she might at any point fatally worsen and she has no chance of non-emergency care, this sounds a lot more reasonable.
Though the headline states the patient was discharged. So its something else, but if the article has no further substance theres nothing to go on. Anyone want to go visit room 373?
They can be discharged as soon as they’re no longer on the brink of death, but that’s not as thorough as most people would want for themselves.
Something like repeated strokes or blood clots can be treated with outpatient care, but will also probably lead to grievous disability or death if you don’t have any way to pay for outpatient care. Medical facilities are not required to provide non urgent care to patients who cannot pay for it, so poor, uninsured, or underinsured people with chronic illnesses can find themselves in a kind of limbo where they have to get very sick before they can be treated.
It is total speculation, but if she had a condition which could suddenly and fatally worsen and the hospital only temporarily stabilized her, she might have wanted to stay in a medical facility, so she at least had a chance to get emergency treatment in time.
If only we had a sane healthcare system that didn’t waste resources just for the sake of excluding the poor