Quebec Mother Billed for Private Hospital Room While in Coma After Childbirth
A family from the Mauricie region in Quebec inherited a bill of 1,278.71 dollars following a cesarean section delivery that led to an emergency hospitalization in 2024 at the Centre hospitalier affilié universitaire régional (CHAUR) in Trois-Rivières, as a mother returned home after a difficult childbirth with charges exceeding 1,200 dollars.
Billing for a Private Room During an Artificial Coma
Audrey Leclerc received a hospital bill exceeding 1,200 dollars following a complicated childbirth, TVA Nouvelles reported. In December 2024, Leclerc arrived at the Centre hospitalier de Trois-Rivières to give birth to her third child. To welcome their newest child, Audrey Leclerc and her partner, Simon St-Yves, were planning a third cesarean delivery, which was scheduled for December 5, 2024. Twenty-four hours after her cesarean section, she suffered a severe internal hemorrhage that caused her to lose three liters of blood and nearly cost her life. J’ai perdu trois litres de sang à l’interne. J’ai frôlé la mort de quelques minutes. Ils m’ont plongée dans un coma artificiel et j’ai été aux soins intensifs pendant trois jours,
she recounted.
The Accumulation of Private Room Fees in the Intensive Care Unit
Prior to her delivery, Leclerc and her partner had reserved a private room in the birth unit for 232.19 dollars per night, planning to use it for three nights. Instead, complications forced her emergency transfer to the intensive care unit, where she remained in a coma for three days before returning to the birth unit until her discharge on December 17, 2024, according to reporting by ici.radio-canada.ca. While she fought for her survival in intensive care, the charges for the private room continued to accrue automatically. The family was ultimately billed for seven nights, totaling 1,278.71 dollars. She stopped paying for her individual room on December 12, but was not moved out of the room because the allocation met a medical necessity, with her hospitalization lasting nearly two weeks in total and costing slightly less than 1,300 dollars. The reason: while the mother was in a coma, she did not request that her room be changed, and neither she nor her partner thought to uncheck the individual room request during her coma. J’ai vraiment pleuré. Je me suis dit que ça n’avait pas de bon sens. J’ai cru à une erreur. Le plus difficile à accepter, c’est d’avoir été facturée pendant que j’étais dans le coma,
she stated, adding that if the nurse had not mentioned anything to the family, the couple would have paid until the end of the hospitalization without knowing they had this bill to settle.
According to the ministerial directive governing hospital room pricing in Quebec, specifically Article 13 of the regulation, a patient who requests a private or semi-private room must pay the designated rate even if a stay in a coronary unit or intensive care unit becomes medically necessary. The fee applies continuously until the patient or their representative formally cancels the request, and as indicated in the documentation given to the patient, despite a transfer between various units, the last decision validly expressed by the user continues to take precedence in this matter even if the room has become a necessity, based on the ministerial directive and financial management manual of the Ministry of Health and Social Services of Quebec. Leclerc noted that she only discovered the ongoing charges when a nurse pointed out the fee on December 12, 2024, prompting the family to immediately cancel the room request. During her unconscious state, her partner was occupied caring for their newborn, their two other children, and managing their snow removal business, leaving no opportunity to handle administrative cancellations.
Response from Health Authorities and Patient Advocacy Groups
Paul Brunet, president of the Conseil pour la protection des malades, argued that the responsibility to cancel room requests should not fall on patients during such circumstances. Brunet questioned why a patient should incur charges for a room layout made mandatory by clinical necessity, particularly when complications arose from hospital care. Sauf respect pour les autorités, dans cette période nébuleuse dans laquelle s’est retrouvée la dame, peut-être à cause de complications qui sont dues à l’administration des soins de l’établissement ou du personnel médical, je ne pense pas que le patient devrait avoir à payer pour ça,
he stated, adding that if rules exist to that effect, they should have been explained to the family before the coma, as it always seems to be the patient who must assume the burden.
Le côté humain, on l’oublie parfois,
she mentioned. Nearly two years after the emergency, both Leclerc and her daughter, Éloïse, have recovered fully.
Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is for educational and scientific communication purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider regarding any medical condition, diagnosis, or treatment plan.