The late Dr. Ron Anderson, longtime CEO of Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, focused the nation's attention on the financial triage taking place in the nation's emergency rooms.
In a 2014 oral history interview done for the American Hospital Association, Anderson described one egregious transfer he witnessed when he was running Parkland's emergency department.
“A young woman in labor was sent to Parkland from … a religiously affiliated hospital. When she told them that she was so glad that they would still see her even though her husband had lost his job, they pushed her legs together, started an IV, and sent her to Parkland. She was crowning—the baby was coming any minute. She delivered in the hallway at Parkland.
“I went over to that hospital and I saw the people there. I think I challenged the doctor to go outside. I was pretty hot-headed about it. It was ridiculous, putting her and the baby at risk like that.”
In 1985, partly as a result of his efforts, Texas enacted the first state law requiring hospitals with emergency rooms to provide emergency care, regardless of a patient's insurance status or income.
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