In February 2000, Luis Alberto Jimenez, an undocumented native of Guatemala who was living and working in Florida, continued brain damage and severe physical injuries as a result of a car crash. Jimenez was transported to Martin Memorial Medical Center and remained there until June 2000, when he was transferred to a skilled nursing facility. The injuries suffered by Jimenez rendered him unskilled and a circuit court judge appointed Montejo guardian of Jimenez's person and property. (Sontag, 2008)
On January 26, 2001, Jimenez was readmitted to Martin Memorial on an emergency basis and, as of November 2001, was still debilitated and still receiving medical care at Martin Memorial. Around this time, Montejo filed a guardianship plan, indicating Jimenez would require twenty-four hour care at a hospital or skilled care facility for the next twelve months. As the costs of Jimenez's medical care were mounting, Jimenez was penniless, and Medicaid had refused to pay because he was an illegal alien, Martin Memorial intervened in the guardianship proceedings. In its petition, Martin Memorial claimed the guardian had failed to ensure Jimenez was in the best facility to meet his medical needs and the hospital …show more content…
The ruling of the Florida appeals court applies only to that jurisdiction. For all intents and purposes, the practice of repatriation by U.S. hospitals is essentially unregulated. Nor is there any federal oversight of the business of transportation itself. The Florida case may be different than some others because it involved a trans-border transfer undertaken without the consent of the patient or the patient’s guardian. On the other hand, even indigent U.S. citizens cannot stay in acute care facilities indefinitely once they have been stabilized and can be discharged. (Sontag,