What courses of action doI have if a hospital has decided to permanently refuse me visitation privileges?
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What courses of action doI have if a hospital has decided to permanently refuse me visitation privileges?
She is recovering in an acute care facility for long term patients under their care and exhibiting symptoms of psychosis. However, the hospital decided to ban me from seeing her; “supposedly” carrying out my mother’s wishes or based on their own personal judgment. This has been done without provocation on my part or prior explanation on theirs.
Asked on January 23, 2011 under Personal Injury, Georgia
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
A hospital is not a place of public accomodation, vis-a-vis visiting, and so the hospital may bar you if they believe that you are disruptive or in some sense injurious to a patient's recovery. On the other hand, if the bar is because, allegedly, of your mother's wishes and you believe that she is not competent, then it may be possible to gain persmission to visit her--and more: if she is not competent, you may want or need to see about having her declared incompetent and a guardian appointed (such as yourself) to look after her interests. In this case, you would probably want to consult with an elder law attorney, who can evaluate the situation and recommend a course of action and help you do it--such as having your mother declared incompetent if she can no longer make good decisions on her own behalf.
M.T.G., Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
I am sorry for your situation and I can understand your being frustrated by the matter. But it is unclear to me who the person in the hospital is in relation to you and what your Mother has to do with it all. So I can only talk in generalities here. The party who is the legal guardian - naturally or appointed by the court through a court order - will be able to control who can and who can not see someone who is recovering from an illness. If this guidance is not any help for you please write back with more specifics so that we can try and sort out what is going on here. Good luck to you.
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