Charity sues RI hospital over century-old free bed

Here's one of the more unusual charity care disputes I've ever seen. A local charity is suing Rhode Island Hospital over a century-old gift intended to create a permanent "free bed" at the facility. Back in 1912, a wealthy widow left $4,000 to the hospital on the condition that it permanently provide one no-cost bed for the needy. However, the hospital no longer offers the bed, and a successor to the charity tasked with selecting the patients is suing to get it back. While the hospital says that it already provides a great deal of free care, the charity contends that it needs to keep the pledge it made to the widow, Louisa Lippitt. The charity says it doesn't want the hospital to set aside a specific bed, but it does expect to see the hospital provide free care to its clients.

To learn more about the charity's case:
- read this Associated Press item [1]

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Ohio AG working to define charity care [3]
Group issues charity care accounting guidelines [4]
Hospitals re-define charity care [5]