Interior Health suing injured US motorcyclist for $700,000 unpaid medical bill
The Interior Health Authority is suing a U.S. citizen for $720,000 in unpaid health-care bills after he crashed his motorcycle in the Kootenays six years ago.
According to a July 4 Notice of Claim, American Victor Lawrence Shartzer was left with a traumatic brain injury following the crash and spent almost a year in hospitals and long-term care racking up a $1 million bill.
Shartzer's insurance covered $300,000 of the medical bill but Shartzer still has $719,774 left to pay.
The court document said Shartzer is a U.S. citizen and is not covered by B.C.'s medical services plan.
"(Shartzer) is legally obliged to pay for Canadian health care services received by him from Interior Health. However, despite demand, (he) has failed or neglected to do so," the court document read.
On July 1, 2018, Shartzer was in a motorbike accident outside Christina Lake and taken to Kelowna General Hospital. He then spent time at the Boundary District Hospital in Grand Forks before being transferred to a long-term care facility.
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In June 2019, his wife Linda Sterling arranged a private ambulance to take Shartzer back across the border to a medical rehabilitation centre in Washington state.
The court document said it believes Shartzer is still living at the centre.
"Interior Health Authority has communicated with and sought payment from Victor by communicating with his wife, Linda, but except for those payments received from Victor's insurer... to date no payments have been made against the debt," the Notice of Claim said.
Separately, following the crash, Shartzer launched a suit against the province and local governments saying they'd failed to maintain the highway as the motorbike crash was caused after he struck debris on the road.
In a court filing, the province denied the allegations.
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The American also filed a suit against the Interior Health Authority saying he wasn't given adequate care while at Kelowna General Hospital.
The court document said Shartzer was told that as he was a U.S. citizen without insurance he wouldn't get further diagnostic tests done due to the expense.
This then caused Shartzer to have a traumatic seizure and hemorrhage, Shartzer claimed in the court document.
This case against Interior Health and several doctors is set to go to trial in September 2025.
Shartzer has yet to respond to Interior Health's latest suit over the $720,000.
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