Officials with St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford, Connecticut, have asked a local judge to evict a patient who has refused to leave.

Margo Smith arrived at the Catholic hospital on September 22 with pneumonia. Doctors determined four days later that Smith was well enough to return home, where she had a hospital bed and home health care service for nearly 12 hours a day.

But Smith refused to leave, saying she liked the bed at the hospital more than her own.

She appealed her discharge order to Qualidigm, which reviews patient services. She also had someone remove the hospital bed from her home, in order to avoid being discharged, the hospital alleged in its complaint.

Furthermore, Smith has been “verbally and physically abusive to staff, and often becomes belligerent and disruptive, resulting in numerous complaints from other patients,” St. Francis claimed.

She has even called the police, public health officials and others to complain if her room is not a constant 83 degrees, according to the complaint.

Smith’s case, although unusual, is not without precedent. In 2005, for example, San Rafael Medical Center in California obtained a court order to evict 82-year-old Sarah Nome, who said that she felt fine, but feared she could fall prey to petty thieves. She was transferred to a senior center, where she died five years alay.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

To Learn More:

Hospital Asks Leave to Boot Cranky Patient (by Christine Stuart, Courthouse News Service)