Hospital vows changes after more patients 'dumped'
Hospital vows changes after more patients 'dumped'
A spokesman for a hospital in Los Angeles has admitted that its procedures "were not strictly followed" after a public outcry and threats of criminal charges followed witnesses reporting a recently discharged, disabled, and homeless man being "dumped" in front of a shelter. The hospital promises to takes steps to improve services for the homeless.
The latest Los Angeles hospital to come under fire for the way it discharges homeless patients is Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center. Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, JD, states that his office has received 55 reports of homeless patient dumping on "Skid Row" over the last year and charged another facility, Kaiser Permanente, with misdemeanor false imprisonment over a 2006 incident. That case is pending.
After that incident in April 2006, Kaiser Permanente officials acknowledged that the patient was not discharged properly. The hospitals in Los Angeles agreed to voluntarily improve their treatment of homeless patients. The most recent incident, however, suggests the problem is not resolved.
Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center is under fire for an incident in which it twice tried to deliver the paraplegic man to the Midnight Mission, which he had listed as his home address on hospital paperwork. According to a report in The Los Angeles Times, the hospital confirms that on the first attempt, two hospital workers arrived by ambulance and tried to wheel the man, who was strapped to a gurney, into the mission courtyard.1 When security guards stopped them and asked about follow-up care, the attendants decided to return the man to the hospital.
Witnesses say man was crawling
Later, a van arrived with the man at the mission again. The newspaper reports that witnesses saw the paraplegic man — who wore a soiled hospital gown and had a broken colostomy bag and no wheelchair or walker — prop himself up in the door of the van, then hurl himself from the vehicle, tumbling to the street. They told police that the man pulled himself along, dragging a bag of his belongings in his clenched teeth, until they helped rescue him from the gutter.
According to the witnesses, the van driver ignored their cries for help and instead applied makeup and perfume before speeding off. Hospital spokesman Dan Springer issued a statement saying the hospital found the incident "extremely troubling and regrettable. The fact is, we would never condone leaving an individual at a location without his consent." He admitted that the hospital's procedures for discharging homeless and disabled patients were not followed.
Springer says Hollywood Presbyterian will hire a coordinator who will be responsible for overseeing care relating to homeless people.
City attorney criticizes hospital
Delgadillo has not leveled criminal charges against Hollywood Presbyterian yet, but he has publicly claimed that the hospital is impeding his investigation. He claims the hospital deliberately blocked the release of the man's medical records, even though the city attorney's office has written consent for release of the records from the patient. Springer denies the hospital is impeding the investigation.
The Los Angeles community is sensitive to the issue because of a sensational case that took place in April 2006, when local media aired footage of a homeless woman who had been treated and then dropped off at a shelter on Skid Row, where she wandered aimlessly on the sidewalk in a hospital gown and socks. Kaiser Permanente hospital confirmed that staff put a 63-year-old woman into a taxi and had her dropped off.
California Sen. Gil Cedillo (D-Los Angeles), has proposed legislation that would make it illegal for hospitals to transport homeless patients and leave them on the streets against their will. Individual offenders could be punished by up to two years in county jail and a fine of up to $1,000. Health care facilities could be fined up to $10,000 and then be subject to more oversight and rules regarding how they discharge homeless patients. (Editor's note: Many risk managers point out that hospitals can find themselves in a no-win situation with these patients and that these "dumping" cases are rarely as simple as they seem to critics.)
Reference
1. "Delgadillo says hospital is hindering probe of patient 'dumping.'" The Los Angeles Times; Feb. 15, 2007. Accessed at: www.latimes.com/features/health/medicine/lamedumping15feb15,1,498121.story?coll=lahealthmedicine.
A spokesman for a hospital in Los Angeles has admitted that its procedures "were not strictly followed" after a public outcry and threats of criminal charges followed witnesses reporting a recently discharged, disabled, and homeless man being "dumped" in front of a shelter.Subscribe Now for Access
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