Los Angeles city attorney to sue hospitals that dump patients on skid row

morte, LPN, LVN · Nov 9, 2006

so....they will be picked up by the cops, for trespassing at the hospital and taken to a shelter.....same deal...longer time frame.....is the hosp is willing to provide transport....whats the issue?

pickledpepperRN · Nov 9, 2006

Part of the issue is that the shelters such as the Union Rescue Mission are already overwhelmed.

Hospitals dump these patients many miles away to get them into someone elses community.

When i did jury duty the parks were filled with mentally and physically ill people.

One person with oozing anasarka and shortness of breath was brought by ambulance and assisted to sit on the curb, feet in the street. The personnel at the mission could not get him up so he sat on the curb. Three days later he died sitting on that curb in his bodily fluids and a jacket over the hospital gown. Paramedics were called but he never got help.

We jurors and the mission staff saw and reported this.

RN4MERCY · Nov 12, 2006

Part of the issue is that the shelters such as the Union Rescue Mission are already overwhelmed.
Hospitals dump these patients many miles away to get them into someone elses community.
When i did jury duty the parks were filled with mentally and physically ill people.
One person with oozing anasarka and shortness of breath was brought by ambulance and assisted to sit on the curb, feet in the street. The personnel at the mission could not get him up so he sat on the curb. Three days later he died sitting on that curb in his bodily fluids and a jacket over the hospital gown. Paramedics were called but he never got help.
We jurors and the mission staff saw and reported this.

This is such a sad commentary and evidence of our broken public health care system. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, "Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane."

It's been said that character is revealed by how we behave when we think no one is looking and strengthened when we act as if everyone is looking.

I'm wondering how the "Best Practices Team" at "The Top 100 Health Systems" in "The Great Place to Work" is going to react to the guilty verdict at an "Evidence-Based" trial?

The public needs to beware that the "Core Values of Accountability and Pursuit of Excellence and Continuous Quality Improvement" posters in their community hospitals most likely refers to the corporation's "bottom line."

Everyone needs to pay attention when RNs say: "Stand up, look around, there's a healthcare crisis in THIS town!"

It's time for the affordable and socially responsible solution: Single Payer!

http://www.pnhp.org/facts/single_payer_resources.php

CHATSDALE · Nov 13, 2006

i saw this on tv, a emt told a reporter that they picked up and delivered where the hospital orders stated...even on a sidewalk

these stories are horrifying - i don't know what the solution is. many homeless won't go to a shelter, the hospital er and floors have people clamoring for needed care, many of these people are in dire need and they have no one to speak for them. many are alienated from family or they have no family at all

the police, the medical community and the general public look on these as a drag on society..but they certainly deserve some type of humane treatment

gitterbug · Nov 16, 2006

Just read on line about this in L.A. Anyone have any more details? This poor lady wondering the street in a gown and slippers? What were the nurses thinking? What were the doctors thinking? We know the administrators were thinking of dollar signs. I do think it is nice that the organization is "rethinking" these types of actions. What a sad situation.

Editorial Team / Admin · Nov 16, 2006

Links to articles:

SignOnSanDiego.com > News > State -- Hospitals send patients to L.A.'s skid row

Kaiser Permanente Thrive Exposed » Kaiser Permanente dumps patients on skid row

elkpark · Nov 16, 2006

There have been two recent threads on this topic. More info/discussion there.

pickledpepperRN · Nov 16, 2006

CBS) LOS ANGELES The Los Angeles city attorney's office has filed false imprisonment and dependent care endangerment charges against hospital giant Kaiser Permanente in the first criminal prosecution of a medical center accused of "dumping" patients on skid row.

The videotape - cbs2.com - City Files Charges For Skid Row Patient 'Dumping'

A previous thread on this - https://allnurses.com/forums/f100/los-angeles-city-attorney-sue-hospitals-dump-patients-skid-row-188908.html

Editorial Team / Admin · Nov 16, 2006

Threads merged.

IndySkies · Feb 10, 2008

A minister once said in a sermon that he believed a society would be judged by how it treats its old and its children. I would add how it treats its sick. However, what do you do for the sick homeless and those who won't follow medical directions, (not even attempt to follow or even 'minor' changes in life style)? They can't stay in the hospital forever, though many would like to, They have care needs that shelters, or private homes, cannot handle for many reasons. Where do they go? And who pays for it. I have seen anasarca type pts, end stage COPD, Renal Failure, CHF type of pts, that are homeless, refuse help or placement, continue to smoke, drink, and drug and die in the streets. How do we care for these pts? Self-determination and all that

vashtee, RN · Feb 10, 2008

I think the problem is that the state mental health facilities were all closed by Reagan in the 80s. Clearly, the hospitals can't be expected to house the homeless (many of whom are mentally ill) indefinitely.