A New Jersey woman is suing a southwest Las Vegas hospital after staff told her that her son was dead — when he was, in fact, very much alive. Marlene Garbowski filed the negligence and emotional distress lawsuit against Southern Hills Hospital and Medical Center on September 30, alleging that the false report sent her into days of physical and psychological distress while she tried to help her son secure federal disability benefits.
Garbowski was contacting the facility remotely from New Jersey in an effort to obtain her son Geoffrey Garbowski's medical records, according to the lawsuit detailed by the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Geoffrey had been a patient at Southern Hills Hospital, located at 9300 W. Sunset Rd. near the 215 Beltway, in 2024. Southern Hills is a 260-plus bed acute care facility operated by Sunrise Health System and owned by HCA Healthcare.
A Request for Records Turns Into a Nightmare
In November 2024, Garbowski reached out to the hospital seeking Geoffrey's medical records, which she needed to support his application for Supplemental Security Income. On November 5, 2024, the hospital emailed her back with devastating news: it could not release the records because Geoffrey was listed as a deceased patient, the lawsuit states. The report was false — Geoffrey Garbowski is alive — but his mother did not learn that the information was wrong until three days later, per the same account.
Federal rules for Supplemental Security Income require applicants to submit verified medical records from treating facilities to establish a qualifying disability, according to the Social Security Administration. An erroneous death record from the very hospital holding those records threatened to derail that process entirely.
During those three days, Garbowski says she was unable to get out of bed. She also began taking a prescription anti-anxiety medication she had never previously needed, and the lawsuit says she continues to suffer ongoing psychological harm. Weeks after the incident, a complaint manager from the hospital contacted Garbowski, acknowledged the error, apologized, and described it as a learning tool for the hospital, according to the suit. Garbowski's legal team contends those comments amount to an admission that the hospital got it wrong.
What the Lawsuit Alleges About Hospital Duty
The lawsuit states that Southern Hills had a duty to exercise reasonable care in the accuracy of information it relayed to Garbowski, and accuses the hospital and its employees of negligence and negligent infliction of emotional distress. The complaint leans on Nevada Administrative Code § 449.379, which requires state-licensed hospitals to employ adequate personnel to ensure prompt completion, filing, and retrieval of medical records, and to keep those records accurate and readily accessible, according to Law.Cornell.Edu. Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 629 similarly requires healthcare providers to retain patient records for at least five years following treatment and keep them retrievable for authorized releases, per the Nevada Legislature.
Nevada's evidentiary bar for emotional distress claims helps explain why the complaint goes into such specific physical detail. Under the Nevada Supreme Court's 1993 decision in Chowdhry v. NLVH, Inc., direct victims alleging negligent infliction of emotional distress must show severe emotional distress accompanied by concrete physical manifestations, according to Justia Law. That precedent is almost certainly why the lawsuit specifically cites Garbowski's three days confined to bed and her new reliance on anti-anxiety medication.
Hospital Has Not Commented, Amid Expansion Plans
As of initial reporting on the suit, Southern Hills Hospital and Medical Center did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the allegations, the Review-Journal reported. Healthcare facilities typically decline to discuss pending litigation publicly.
The lawsuit arrives as Southern Hills continues to grow its footprint in the region. The hospital broke ground in late 2025 on a $15 million freestanding emergency facility in Henderson's Inspirada neighborhood, with completion expected in late 2026, according to Las Vegas HEALS. The facility is also accredited by The Joint Commission, which subjects it to unannounced surveys evaluating compliance with federal administrative standards for health records and patient communication.
It is not the first time staffing at HCA-operated hospitals in Las Vegas has drawn public scrutiny. In January 2023, healthcare workers represented by SEIU Local 1107 held public rallies criticizing HCA facilities, including Southern Hills, over alleged administrative and clinical understaffing. Whether the erroneous death record stemmed from a technical records error or a human misidentification has not been established, and it remains unclear whether the mix-up caused any delay or denial of Geoffrey Garbowski's federal benefits application.
