Woman charged nearly $700 for being forced to wait seven hours in emergency room and leaving without treatment

‘You get charged before you are seen. Not for being seen’

A woman says she was charged nearly $700 for waiting in an emergency room at Atlanta’s Emory Decatur hospital for seven hours, only to return without treatment (Facebook/Emory Decatur Hospital)

A Georgia woman was charged $688.35 (£504.4) for waiting in the emergency room of a hospital in Atlanta city for seven hours without receiving any treatment.

Taylor Davis had visited the Emory Decatur hospital in July to get a head injury treated, but had to return home after waiting for seven hours without receiving any treatment.

“I didn’t get my vitals taken, nobody called my name. I wasn’t seen at all,” Ms Davis told news channel Fox 5 Atlanta.

The bill was sent to her home by mail a few weeks after her hospital visit. She was convinced it was a mistake and decided to call the hospital.

“So I called them and she [an employee] said it’s hospital protocol even if you’re just walking in and you’re not seen. When you type in your social, that’s it. You’re going to get charged regardless,” Ms Davis said.

The hospital said the bill was an emergency room visitation fee that is added to the total hospital bill and is not normally as noticeable as it was in Ms Davis’ case.

In a reply to an email sent by Ms Davis subsequently, the hospital said: “You get charged before you are seen. Not for being seen.”

Emory Healthcare, in a statement to Fox 5 Atlanta, said it was “looking into this matter and will follow up directly with the individual.”

Ms Davis said the experience has left her reluctant to consider hospital visits in the future.

“I’m very reluctant to go to the hospital now. That’s kind of like the last resort now. Seeing that they’re able to bill you for random things, it doesn’t make me want to go. So that’s not good,” she said.