Judge Orders Mercy Hospital To Keep COVID Patient On Ventilator
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A judge in Anoka County has ordered Mercy Hospital to keep a patient battling COVID-19 on a ventilator, the latest development in an ongoing legal battle with the man's family.
Earlier, Anne Quiner went to the courts to keep her husband Scott, a father of three, alive. He contracted COVID-19 at the end of October for the second time and went to the hospital.
Already on a ventilator, the Buffalo man was transferred to Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids about a week later.
"He's a wonderful man," Anne Quiner said in an interview with WCCO. "(We've been) married 35 years."
More recently Anne Quiner said she was told nothing more could be done for her husband, and it was time to take him off the ventilator. She says she asked for other treatments.
"You're telling me that if he's dying then why can't you try these things, at least try, what can it hurt," she said.
In documents filed to stop the hospital from taking Scott off a ventilator, it said she needed more time to find a new facility for care. And it said the actions would "end my husband's life," and she "vehemently disagree(s) with this action."
It worked. A judge granted the family more time this week.
"I was relieved, absolutely relieved," Anne Quiner said.
Allina Health released a statement in which they said, in part, "Allina Health respects the privacy of its patients and is unable to comment on specific patient care."
The hospital added it will follow the court's order and will work through the legal process.
Anne Quiner told WCCO that they are making arrangements to transfer Scott Quiner to a hospital in Texas.
The matter between her and Mercy Hospital is scheduled for a hearing in four weeks.
