Sunrise Hospital Vegas

This section provides information on lawsuits, settlements and other litigation against Sunrise Hospital and HCA Healthcare. HCA is the corporate owner of Sunrise Hospital.

There have been many lawsuits and settlements against them for millions and billions of dollars. Some of the lawsuits brought by patients and their families are presented in our section of Patient Stories as Patient-2, Patient-3, Patient-7, Patient-8, Patient-10, Patient 11, Patient-12, Patient-13, Patient-14 and Patient-17.

The largest settlement (discussed in the public domain) was $1.7 billion in an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice. There are potentially many more settlements that are confidential.

In 2022, the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight, called for an investigation of HCA Healthcare for possible Medicare fraud. The article said:

HCA's profits were almost $7 billion in 2021, up nearly 100 percent in one year.

HCA has a negative history of health care fraud settlements with both federal and state authorities. This includes a settlement for $1.7 billion in the early 2000s that resolved multiple criminal counts and civil fraud allegations -- at the time, the largest health care fraud in U.S. history -- as well as other health care fraud settlements involving HCA in subsequent years.

In a February 3, 2022, article the Union (SEIU) accused HCA of $1.8 billion in Medicare fraud:

Allegations against HCA Healthcare of improper emergency department admissions practices have caught the attention of a key lawmaker, who is now calling on the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to open an investigation.

Tuesday, Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-New Jersey, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight, penned a letter to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra asking for his agency’s help to settle “disturbing questions about HCA’s corporate policies and practices.”

The congressman’s letter largely leaned on allegations by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which released a report indicating that the hospital chain may have collected $1.8 billion in excess Medicare payments since 2008 thanks to medically unnecessary emergency department admissions.

In 2012, as the result of another investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, HCA paid $16.5 million to settle false claims act allegations regarding one of their hospitals in Tennessee. As alleged in the settlement agreement, HCA entered into a series of financial transactions with a physician group, through which it provided financial benefits intended to induce the physician members to refer patients to HCA facilities.

In 2018, a physician filed a whistleblower lawsuit accusing HCA of having a defacto quote system. He said supervisors hounded him with warnings and even threatened his job unless he started admitting more patients to meet his targets. Attorneys used Medicare data to show HCA hospitals nationwide are increasingly admitting patients for low-level maladies like nausea and back pain while non-HCA hospitals are going the opposite direction.

In 2023, a class action lawsuit was filed against HCA Healthcare due to a massive data breach that exposed the personal data of 11 million patients throughout the United States.

On July 25, 2025, HCA Healthcare agreed to a multi-state settlement over allegations it illegally required entry-level nurses to repay training costs. These repayment arrangements, known as TRAPs (training repayment agreement provisions), violated state and federal laws. Under this program, nurses who left before two years of employment were billed for a prorated portion of the program cost, often sent to collections if unpaid. TRAPs are considered a form of employer-driven debt that can restrict job mobility and saddle healthcare workers with expected financial burdens.

We will add information about new lawsuits and legal matters for Sunrise Hospital and HCA Healthcare as it becomes available.

Announced September 26, 2025

The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada secured an agreement with Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center, LLC, to ensure that patients and their companions who are deaf have appropriate auxiliary aids and services, including qualified in-person or video remote interpreting services. The new internal policies as per the agreement will be enforced in all 190 affiliated healthcare facilities across the United States.

“Every individual deserves the right to communicate effectively with their medical team, especially when assisting their child in an emergency room,” said Acting United States Attorney Sigal Chattah for the District of Nevada. “This settlement reflects the United States Attorney’s Office’s commitment to the civil rights of disabled individuals, specifically those who are deaf or hard of hearing to ensure they may participate meaningfully in their own health care without obstacles.”

The settlement agreement resolves a complaint under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by a deaf father who accompanied his eight-year-old daughter during a Sunrise Hospital emergency room visit where the hospital denied him an American Sign Language interpreter in violation of the ADA.

Instead, the father was forced to use an unreliable means of communication to attempt to relay and receive information from emergency room staff, including the doctor caring for his daughter. As a result, he did not understand the extent of his daughter’s condition, medication being administered, vital details about the discharge process and treatment plan. Consequently, the father and his daughter suffered unnecessary stress, fear, and confusion.

Under the terms of the agreement, Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center, LLC, will provide patients and companions who are deaf appropriate auxiliary aids and services including qualified in-person or video remote interpreting services.

They will also train all patient-facing staff and employees on current ADA requirements, periodically submit reports regarding its compliance, and modify all policies and practices consistent with the ADA. Additionally, Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center, LLC, will pay $30,000 in monetary damages to the father, as well as $5,000 in civil penalties to the United States.

Source: Justice Department Secures Agreement With Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center To Ensure Accessibility For Deaf Or Hard Of Hearing Individuals Under The Americans With Disabilities Act, September 26, 2025.

The Justice Department reached settlements with more than 100 hospitals totaling approximately $75 million to resolve allegations that they mischarged Medicare for kyphoplasty procedures.

In addition to today’s settlement, the government previously settled with Medtronic Spine LLC, the corporate successor to Kyphon Inc., for $75 million to settle allegations that the company defrauded Medicare by counseling hospital providers to perform kyphoplasty procedures as inpatient rather than outpatient procedures.

Fifty-five hospitals (bringing the total to more than 100 hospitals) located throughout twenty-one states have agreed to pay the United States a total of more than $34 million to settle allegations that the health care facilities submitted false claims to Medicare for kyphoplasty procedures, the Justice Department announced today. Kyphoplasty is a minimally-invasive procedure used to treat certain spinal fractures that often are due to osteoporosis.

In many cases, kyphoplasty can be performed safely and effectively as an outpatient procedure without any need for a more costly hospital admission. The settlements announced today resolve allegations that the settling hospitals frequently billed Medicare for kyphoplasty procedures on a more costly inpatient basis, rather than an outpatient basis, in order to increase their Medicare billings.

“Hospitals that participate in the Medicare program must bill for their services accurately and honestly,” said Stuart F. Delery, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division of the Department of Justice. “The Department of Justice is committed to ensuring that Medicare funds are expended appropriately, based on the medical needs of patients rather than the desire of medical providers to maximize profits.”

The 55 hospitals included Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas and 22 additional hospitals owned by HCA Healthcare.

Source: Fifty-Five Hospitals to Pay U.S. More Than $34 Million to Resolve False Claims Act Allegations Related to Kyphoplasty, July 2, 2013.

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) released a comprehensive report about HCA Healthcare in 2022, titled "HCA: Higher Healthcare Costs of America."

Their report about HCA Healthcare says "new research indicates American's largest for-profit hospital system may be gaming the Medicare system and driving up healthcare costs for patients and citizens."

Here are some highlights from the report:

HCA's hospital markups are in general more than twice the national average, and many HCA hospitals have markups as high as 12 or 13 times the costs of care -- or even higher.

At the same time, staffing levels in HCA's hospitals lag the national average by about 30%, and the company pays tens of thousands of its employees poverty wages.

Based on the new research in this report, these high profits and payments to investors may originate in part from Medicare fraud. HCA routinely admits patients for inpatient hospital stays apparently regardless of medical need.

HCA is the largest health system in the U.S. and one of the wealthiest health systems in the world, with a market capitalization of $78.1 billion as of November 1, 2021.

This analysis indicates that HCA's practice of overadmitting patients may have brought the company nearly $2 billion in excess Medicare payments since 2008.

These allegations hold particular weight given HCA Healthcare's history of Medicare fraud.

HCA was the subject of the largest Medicare fraud settlement in U.S. history in the early 2000s when the company agreed to pay $1.7 billion.

According to the report, HCA fraud investigations and settlements date back to the 1990s and demonstrate that HCA has a history of engaging in alleged fraud to maximize profits and that federal and state governments and other stakeholders must take steps to increase scrutiny on for-profit healthcare corporations like HCA.

Over the past two decades, HCA and its affiliated entities have had at least nine settlements to resolve fraud allegations with the U.S. Department of Justice.

The facts and allegations, together with the data analysis summarized in the report present a strong case that HCA is engaged in practices that maximize profits at the expense of patient care, working conditions, and responsible corporate behavior.

Source: HCA: Higher Healthcare Costs of America, by SEIU, published in 2022. Read the Executive Summary, and read the Full Report.