While some Las Vegas hospitals said they plan to use the influx of donations they have received to help pay for some of the medical costs incurred by victims of the Oct. 1 shooting, one area hospital claimed it would foot the entire bill for all injured victims, according to the Las Vegas Sun.
A spokesperson for Las Vegas-based Dignity Health-St. Rose Dominican told the Las Vegas Sun Oct. 12 the hospital will not require any payment from any of the victims.
"At Dignity Health-St. Rose, our focus remains on the immediate medical and supportive care needs of the injured as well as their long-term healing process," the spokesperson said. "St. Rose does not intend to bill or require payment from any patient victims of this tragic event. St. Rose will bill third-party payers ... and will be accepting contributions from donors in the community to address the financial and other burdens placed on these patient victims."
San Francisco-based Dignity Health's three hospitals in Nevada treated roughly 60 patients during the two days following the shooting Sunday evening. However, that number climbed to 79 roughly eight days after the attack, a spokesperson for the health system told Newsweek Oct. 9.
"People may have put off their hospital visits because of shock or adrenaline, or because they didn't want to take up space right after the shooting," the spokesperson told Newsweek. "Now those people are coming in, whether it's for surgery or needing something looked at."
Approximately 611 victims were treated at four different hospitals or hospital groups for injuries sustained during the mass shooting, according to statistics obtained by Newsweek.
Experts suggest the mass casualty incident may cost at least $600 million in lost quality of life, medical bills and follow-up care for victims.
A spokesperson from Las Vegas-based The Valley Health System told Becker's Hospital Review Nevada has a program in place to help victims affected by a violent crime. The spokesperson said if a patient completes all the necessary paperwork, which includes an application and filing a police report, the program will pay the patient's medical costs.
"All patients from this tragedy would be eligible for this program," the spokesperson told Becker's.
Editor's note: Becker's Hospital Review reached out to Dignity Health for comment and will update the story as more information becomes available. This article was updated Oct. 12 to include additional information from The Valley Health System.