Patient deemed ‘criminal trespasser’ fights to stay at Macon hospital

The Medical Center, Navicent Health, is asking a judge to order that a Haitian man hospitalized after a spring car crash be discharged despite the man’s lawyers’ arguments that he’s not yet ready to be released.

Alter Antoine was wheeled into a conference room in the hospital’s Albert Luce Jr. Heart Institute on Tuesday for what has turned into at least two days of testimony and arguments in the court case. Although Antoine speaks some English, an interpreter sat at his side.

A heavily redacted version of the hospital’s petition was filed last week in Bibb County Superior Court.

Julia Magda, a lawyer representing the hospital, argued in her opening statement early Tuesday evening that Antoine was admitted to the hospital after a serious car wreck this spring. He’d previously been treated at a hospital in Albany and stabilized before being brought to Macon.

“It was very touch and go,” she said of Antoine’s condition early on.

But as Antoine’s health improved, the hospital began taking steps to transition him to another facility or to go home, Magda said.

“Unfortunately, he cannot stay here,” she said.

David Panitz, an attorney representing Antoine, said his client has been called a “criminal trespasser.”

After suffering a traumatic brain injury that’s left him unable to swallow and dependent on a feeding tube surgically implanted in his abdomen, Antoine hasn’t been taught how to clean the tube or use it to feed and hydrate himself, Panitz argued.

On Aug. 9, Antoine was placed in a wheelchair against his will, taken to a waiting area near a hospital exit and left despite his inability to walk, he said.

“Patients should not be evicted under the conditions that my client has,” Panitz said.

He argued the hospital made a prior attempt to discharge Antoine in June.

Although Antoine’s brother has traveled from New York to help with his care, he doesn’t have anywhere to live, Panitz said.

“He wants to be on his own,” Panitz said of his client. “He wants to be independent.”

But Antoine isn’t yet ready and needs to be transferred to another facility where his care can continue, he said.

A recipient of federal funding, the hospital is required to “hold their patient that they elected to take,” Panitz said.

Dr. Eric Long, a trauma physician, testified Tuesday that Antoine no longer needs acute medical treatment and it’s safe to discharge him to a home — even to a homeless shelter.

He said he’s seen lots of patients discharged with feeding tubes still inserted.

Dr. Matthew Smith, a neurologist at the hospital, testified Wednesday that he also thinks Antoine is medically cleared to be discharged home or to a homeless shelter.

Smith, who examined Antoine for the first time Tuesday, said he expects Antoine to gradually get better each day, though his final prognosis won’t be known for another year.

Testimony was set to continue into Wednesday evening.

It’s unclear when the judge will issue a ruling in the case.

This story was originally published August 16, 2017 at 2:47 PM with the headline "Patient deemed ‘criminal trespasser’ fights to stay at Macon hospital."