Federal investigators say Littleton Adventist Hospital failed to properly screen patients for psychiatric problems in its emergency room and may have sent some of them to jail, detox or other medical facilities--highlighting the need to overhaul emergency psychiatric services, The Denver Post reported. "A probe by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said Littleton failed to finish psychiatric evaluations ordered by doctors, and transferred patients without providing case details or following up," the article noted.
Centura Health, the nonprofit that owns Littleton Adventist, maintains it has cooperated fully with the CMS investigation but says it cannot comment on the details of the case. One father of a patient called the practice "systemic" and said he believes the hospital dumps people who don't have insurance into jail. Article