Lives Lost Amid ER Violations, Investigation Finds

Randy Strickland, shown with wife, Mary, died after North Metro Medical Center in Jacksonville, Arkansas, failed to follow standards of care established by the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, records show. WebMD and Georgia Health News analyzed 10 years of EMTALA violations by hospitals around the United States from March 2008 to March 2018.

Photo courtesy of Georgia Health News

By Brenda Goodman and Andy Miller

This special report, Deprived of Care: When ERs Break the Law, is an investigation by WebMD and Georgia Health News. 

Randy Strickland walked into the ER at North Metro Medical Center burning with fever and trembling. He told the man and the woman who were staffing the triage desk that he was nauseated and felt like he needed to throw up.