P.R. Laws tit. 24, § 3112
Any hospital, whether public or private, to whose emergency room a patient goes and requests medical treatment, shall perform the pertinent medical evaluation in order to determine whether there is a medical emergency condition or, in the case of a woman with apparent symptoms of labor, to determine if she is, indeed, in labor, regardless of whether the person is able to pay for the medical services rendered.
Provided, That once the patient has been evaluated and his/her condition has been determined not to be an emergency, the patient shall pay for the medical evaluation according to his/her resources.
(a) When the medical evaluation reveals that the patient suffers from a medical emergency condition or that the patient is in labor, the hospital shall provide, in accordance with its available facilities and resources, the treatment needed to stabilize said condition, or assist in the labor, as the case may be, or provide for the transfer of the patient to another medical institution, pursuant to the subsequent provisions.
(b) The hospital shall be presumed to have complied with this provision if it offers to perform additional medical examinations or to provide treatment to stabilize the condition of the patient, and he/she, or the person acting on his/her behalf, refuses to consent to said examinations or treatment.
(c) The hospital shall be presumed to have complied with this provision if it offers to transfer the patient to another medical institution pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, and he/she, or the person acting on his/her behalf, refuses to consent to said transfer.
History —June 28, 1994, No. 35, § 2, eff. 60 days after June 28, 1994.