COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — Mary Rutan Hospital is under scrutiny after media reports surfaced of the institution suing thousands of its own patients.
Following ABC6’s investigation into the issue last week, more individuals have come forward, sharing their experiences of being sued by the hospital. One person even reported having to file for bankruptcy because of the legal pressure.
The hospital’s CEO, Chad Ross, addressed the issue in a video statement, saying, “Everyone at Mary Rutan Health Care cares deeply about the quality of services that we provide to the community. We also care very deeply about working with our patients when they have an amount owed from those services.”
Ross noted that the hospital has filed nearly 3,000 lawsuits in the past two years, a 300-percent increase from 2023 to 2024. He attributed this rise to a COVID backlog, a reduction in the statute of limitations for debt collection from eight years to six, and the need to file separate cases for spouses.
Ross emphasized that “equity for all of our patients and basically the sustainability for our organization does require that we seek collection of patient balances. The use of legal processes is extremely rare.”
Despite this, the hospital has faced criticism from former patients. One Facebook user named Monet shared, “We were patients there for years. For all my son’s appointments, I would have to enter his insurance information. But then I would receive bills in the mail, and they weren’t billing our insurance! It was so frustrating.”
Another individual, who wished to remain anonymous, emailed, “We were aggressively pursued over medical bills, despite already struggling financially. The hospital threatened to take us to court, and because of that pressure, we ultimately had no choice but to file for bankruptcy.”
Mary Rutan Hospital claims to have 7,000 patients on payment plans and has provided over $3 million in charity care since 2021. However, the backlash continues as more patients share their stories of financial strain and legal threats.