Health Dept. Sustains Complaints against 2 Fridley Facilities

Two Fridley healthcare facilities fell afoul of the Minnesota Department of Health in decisions made public over the last month.

The agency's Office of Health Facility Complaints found fault with both and Golden Livingcenter Lynwood.

A decision announced Sept. 27 said that Unity had engaged in a practice termed "patient dumping"—turning a patient away without providing the screening required under the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA).

It was the third complaint that the state had sustained against Unity since May 2010, according to the agency's website. All involved patient dumping or EMTALA.

A hospital spokesman told the St. Paul Pioneer Press that staff in the emergency room, where the most recent violation occured, "have now received additional mandatory education on EMTALA policies and procedures."

The agency sustained a complaint of "neglect of health care" against Golden Livingcenter Lynwood a month ago, but earlier this year found a similar complaint filed against the facility to be inconclusive.