In Re the Appeal of Presentation Sisters, Inc.

The Pennington County Board of County Commissioners (Commissioner) unanimously rejected St. Joseph’s Hospital of Mitchell (St. Joseph) and McKennan Hospital of Sioux Palls (McKennan) requests for reimbursement for the emergency hospitalization of indigent Duane H. Ehresmann (Ehresmann). The circuit court granted St. Joseph and McKennan’s motions for summary judgment, holding that since each hospital substantially complied with the notice requirements of SDCL 28-13-34.1 Pennington County was liable for the cost of Ehresmann’s hospitalization. At issue is the adequacy of the notices. We hold…