PORTLAND, Ore. - A 61-year-old man died after driving himself to a hospital early Thursday morning and police said they were frustrated that the hospital’s policy delayed the man getting treatment.
But the hospital said the police are confused about its policy.
Birgilio Marin-Fuentes was not feeling well and drove himself to Portland Adventist Medical Center in Southeast Portland just after midnight. He crashed his car into a light pole in the hospital’s parking lot about 100 feet from the emergency room.
Someone saw Marin-Fuentes unconscious and got a hold of police who were already at the hospital for an unrelated reason.
Police said they did CPR and one of them ran to the emergency room to get more help. Lt. Kelli Sheffer, with the Portland Police Bureau, said the officers were under the impression the ER refused to help, saying they needed to call an ambulance because of a hospital policy that prohibited them from treating people unless the patients are inside the ER doors.
“You know, there’s a good reason for it, I’m sure,” said Sheffer. “Does it help in the heat of the moment when there’s high emotion and high frustration? No, it’s difficult.”
However, Dr. Kelli Westcott with Portland Adventist said they don’t have a policy barring them from treating someone on the grounds.
“It is very unfortunate that was the perception that the police officer had,” she said. “But it’s certainly is not the reality and has never been the reality. We have a system in place to respond all over campus.”
According to the hospital, the officers may have been confused because the emergency room staff called for an ambulance since the problem was reported to them as a car crash. An ambulance would have the stabilization tools and a rescue truck would have the tools to get someone out of the car if necessary.
The medical examiner said Marin-Fuentes died of heart disease.
U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Oregon, said he’s troubled by what happened and issued a statement saying, “If these reports are true, it is not just heartbreaking, but incomprehensible that a hospital fully capable of treating this medical emergency left police officers with no medical equipment to tend to a patient. I am calling for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid services to conduct an independent investigation of this matter to ensure that federal laws are enforced and Oregonians are protected.”
According to Seth Chandler, a health law expert with the University of Houston, the federal Emergency Treatment and Active Fair Labor Act says that a hospital must treat patients without questions about whether they can pay. The law now says that if a person is within 250 yards of a hospital, and the people inside know there’s a patient out there, they have to come out to treat the person.
It can be a disincentive to have the hospital’s doctors or nurses running out to the parking lot to help someone who they’re not sure has insurance or the ability to pay. If the patient isn’t insured, the hospital could be on the hook for the cost of care and any liability issues.
Family Demands Answers
Marin-Fuentes’ family doesn’t understand why he didn’t get the help they say could have saved his life.
Claudia Luis-Garcia met Marin-Fuentes 10 years ago at a job detailing cars. They’ve been together ever since. Her brother said Marin-Fuentes was a good father-figure.
His last words were to tell Luis-Garcia to stay with the children while he went to the hospital because he was coughing a lot. He said he would be back later.
Luis-Garcia said she still doesn’t understand why a man who helped everyone couldn’t get the help he needed.
KATU News reporters Anna Canzano and Meghan Kalkstein contributed to this report.
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