The plaintiffs brought suit alleging that the defendant, Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County, Indiana d/b/a Wishard Memorial Hospital . . . violated [EMTALA] by failing to stabilize Melissa Welch and her minor son, Joshua Beller, during an emergency medical situation. The district court granted summary judgment for Wishard, and the plaintiffs appeal.

On June 14, 2001, Melissa Welch called 911 and a Wishard ambulance was dispatched to her home. Welch was 34 weeks pregnant, and the paramedics ascertained that her water broke and she had a prolapsed umbilical cord. The paramedics tried to relieve pressure on the cord, and after consulting with the nurse at Welch’s obstetrician’s office, agreed that Welch needed to be transported to the nearest hospital. They then contacted the St. Francis Beech Grove (“Beech Grove”) emergency room and transported her there.

Beech Grove did not have an obstetrics facility.

Rather than delivering the baby there, the physician at Beech Grove examined Welch and then sent her in the Wishard ambulance to St. Francis Hospital South. There, Joshua Beller was delivered by Caesarean section, but he had suffered hypoxia resulting in severe brain damage. The plaintiffs allege that Wishard violated the EMTALA by transferring Joshua to Beech Grove instead of stabilizing him by delivering him, and that the failure resulted in his permanent injuries..........

Discussion Questions

a. Do you agree that the 2003 amendment was a “clarification” and not a substantive change to the EMTALA regulation?

b. Should the HHS denomination of the amendment be determinative?

c. Why is the named defendant the “Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County” and not Wishard Hospital?

d. Had the outcome here favored the plaintiffs, what would the next procedural steps have been and what would the likely outcome of the case be on its merits?