Before the nursing home can accept the 13-year-old as a patient, however, doctors at Children’s Hospital Oakland need to surgically insert breathing and feeding tubes into Jahi McMath that would allow the new facility to keep her body functioning, the lawyer, Christopher Dolan, said.
David Durand, the hospital’s chief of pediatrics, said the hospital would not cooperate with McMath’s transfer to another facility.
He cited a ruling from Alameda County Superior Court Judge Evelio Grillo, who found that the girl was brain-dead but ordered that the hospital keep her on a ventilator through Monday evening.
“Judge Grillo was very clear,” Durand said in a statement late Thursday. “He ruled Jahi McMath to be deceased and instructed the hospital to maintain the status quo.”
The judge did not authorize or order any transfer or surgery, he said, adding: “Children’s Hospital Oakland does not believe that performing surgical procedures on the body of a deceased person is an appropriate medical practice.”