AG sues Quorum Health Resources over operation of Las Vegas hospital
New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas has filed a scathing new lawsuit accusing Quorum Health Resources, the owners of Alta Vista Regional Hospital in Las Vegas, N.M., of operating a subpar facility that overcharges area residents for limited care in a filthy setting.
Quorum Health Resources currently performs what Holy Cross Medical Center administrators describe as a “consulting” role in the management of the Taos hospital.
Balderas’ complaint, which names the hospital and owners Quorum Health Resources as defendants, asks the state District Court in Las Vegas to bar the facility from advertising for services it doesn’t provide and from “engaging in unconscionable billing practices.”
Alta Vista uses misleading advertising to lure patients in for services it doesn’t have the capacity to provide, engages in “abusive and unconscionable debt collection practices,” and refers impoverished New Mexicans to collections agencies for debt on services not rendered, the lawsuits alleges. It also seeks civil penalties of up to $5,000 for each willful violation of the Unfair Practices Act and legal costs associated with bringing the lawsuit.
According to the suit, the hospital continued to advertise obstetrics and gynecology services through June, even though its only doctor qualified to provide those services died in May. Instead of rehiring for the position, the hospital stopped providing those services altogether, the suit alleges.
“This closure results in there being no proper prenatal or OB care in Northeastern New Mexico,” the suit says.
A recent investigation by the state Department of Health discovered blood on the walls of the
emergency room, trash piled up around the facility, dirt on the floor and a failure to clean for COVID19, according to the complaint.
The hospital also is operating without proper oversight after
2021 “as a direct result of the manner in which [the hospital] continues to operate,” according to the suit.
It cites complaints from patients about exorbitant charges, including one instance in which a bill for 1.5 hours of “nonadmission” medical care exceeded $40,000.
The hospital also has “routinely charged $1,200 for a service where the co-pay should have been $400,” according to the complaint.
Jessica Kendrick, a marketing consultant for Alta Vista, wrote in a Dec. 9 email: “We are disappointed that the Attorney General’s office did not reach out to us to discuss these claims prior to filing.”
She added, “We would share that the New Mexico Department of Health conducted a facility survey in October 2022 where the hospital was found to be in substantial compliance. We would also review our advertising and available services, as well as the fact that nearly all of our patients are covered by Medicare, Medicaid or private insurance with established rates. Additionally, to make health care more affordable, the hospital has programs with significant discounts to help uninsured individuals.”
The hospital looks forward to “discussing these matters with the Attorney General and to understand the source of these claims,” Kendrick wrote.
However, Balderas’ suit alleges the hospital has “failed or refused in every instance to respond to communications” from his office about consumer complaints.
Alta Vista serves about 13,000 people in Las Vegas and about 30,000 more in a larger area.
Health Department spokesman David Morgan confirmed that his agency issues licenses to hospitals in the state and “conducts surveys and investigations at the direction” of the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Morgan said those survey reports are publicly available for view through an online portal. However, at 3 p.m. Dec. 9 the portal contained only reports through 2017.
By 6 p.m. the same day, five more years of surveys had been added to the portal. Included among them was a January 2022 report that found multiple deficiencies at Alta Vista.
The hospital was in violation of infection prevention regulations and had not implemented practices recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for dealing with COVID-19, the report said.
It also noted instances in which the hospital was not following its own bylaws; complaints from staff that some workers were refusing to wear face masks; and lack of cleanliness.
During a December 2021 tour of the emergency room, the inspector noted “visible stained floors not swept or mopped, per a staff member due to not having consistent housekeeping for the past six months.”
A bed listed in the computer system as ready for an incoming patient had not been wiped down and did not have a bed sheet, the report said. It cited urine in a utility room sink and dry bloodstains on a countertop near where supplies are stored.
A trash can labeled “biohazard” had three empty cafeteria trays stacked on it, the report said, and expired medical supplies — including syringes, needles and gloves — were in a supply area of an operating room.
The portal did not contain the October report cited by Kendrick, but did include a report from late September 2022 that contained only a few findings, including a failure to address “adverse events” in Quality Improvement Council meetings.
When an inspector asked why adverse events had not been tracked, analyzed or discussed in a meeting, a hospital official identified as the “director of quality” stated: “I think ... because it is a confidential system, for a while nobody can know what is going on,” the report said.