title: Assessing hospitals' responsibility to provide unremunerated services.
abstract: Hospitals typically absorb the costs of unremunerated health care services; however, budget cuts make this no longer feasible. This article identifies important ethical and legal dimensions of a hospital's duty regarding unremunerated services in a climate of scarce resources. While, except in certain emergency situations, a hospital has no obligation to provide services to those who cannot pay, some guidelines are offered to help hospitals respond to requests for unremunerated services.
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Ethics Unit, McGill University,
authors.forename: Carolyn
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ells
mesh_terms: D002170:Canada; D006761:Hospitals / Q000941:ethics*; D006801:Humans; D009313:National Health Programs; D012941:Social Responsibility; D017664:Uncompensated Care