Has anyone ever had a hospital refuse a patient for reasons other than the patient meets trauma criteria and wasn't brought to a trauma center etc... I had brought in a psych patient (definitely harm to himself and others and was seeking treatment) to a hospital who had been admitted and discharged earlier (prematurely in my opinion). When we brought him back to said facility (our only psych center) the hospital initially denied to accept him and only when supervisors from both sides were brought in did they finally agree ~1 hour total. Does a hospital actually have the right to refuse to accept and treat a patient? I know about EMTLA but I don't know if this was a violation because it didn't have to do with the individuals ability to pay just the hospitals unwillingness to keep the individual for treatment.