Los Angeles Hospital Settles Lawsuit Stemming From Allegedly Dumping Homeless Patient
For the fourth time in less than three years, a hospital in the Los Angeles area has settled a lawsuit related to “patient dumping,” or discharging homeless patients back to the street with nowhere to go, sometimes when they are still in need of medical care. Good Samaritan Hospital, without actually acknowledging fault related to the allegations, agreed to pay a former patient $450,000 after he was dumped from the hospital in December of 2014. In addition to the monetary settlement, the hospital has also agreed to release homeless patients following “proper protocols, ” reports CBS.
Following the Good Samaritan Hospital settlement, which was confirmed by City Attorney Mike Feuer on April 21, the Los Angeles hospitals have paid out a total of $1.9 million in such settlements since January of 2014.
Unfortunately for patients and the City of Los Angeles, hospitals in the city aren’t legally required to have homeless patient discharge protocol on the books. However, Los Angeles city law is clear that patient dumping is illegal within the city.
“There is no place in our society for patient dumping. We all know how vulnerable any of us would be when we’re released from a medical facility. Imagine how much more vulnerable one would feel if one were released and had no place to go.”
This most recent case against a Los Angeles hospital involves a patient who was discovered on the streets of Los Angeles in December of 2014. The man allegedly had a visibly infected leg, and had been discharged from the Good Samaritan Hospital emergency room with nothing more than a bus token. He was found several miles from downtown Los Angeles and had to be re-hospitalized to treat his infection.
Good Samaritan Hospital wholeheartedly denies the allegations brought against the hospital, stating that the only reason the Los Angeles medical institution chose to settle was to avoid “protracted litigation.”
“Good Samaritan Hospital remains committed to providing accessible, quality, cost-effective and compassionate health care services. Our goal is to deliver the best possible care to anyone who comes through our door.”
According to the Los Angeles hospital, the facility has a long-standing “standard practice” of working closely with homeless patients when it comes to their discharge, including making plans to place them in appropriate facilities — provided, that is, that the patient accepts the hospital’s recommendations.
In 2006, the problem of hospital patient dumping in Los Angeles was thrust into the national spotlight after a mission in the area recorded a 63-year-old dementia sufferer on its surveillance camera wandering around the area in her hospital gown and slippers.
In that case, the city attorney said that staff at a Los Angeles Kaiser Permanente hospital had put the woman in a taxi and had her dropped off in the city’s Skid Row, despite knowing she had serious and untreated health problems.
The following year, a paraplegic male was seen dragging himself along a Los Angeles Skid Row sidewalk by his hands, a destroyed and leaking colostomy bag dragging behind him. In that case, Los Angeles police said that the patient had been dumped in the area by a Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center van driver.
In both of those cases, the Los Angeles area hospitals chose to settle.
According to the city attorney, some hospitals have adopted and embraced the suggested protocols, but “too many” have refused to do so.
“We’re talking about human beings whose situations are grave and for which there are solutions.”
According to the city attorney, it’s possible that there may become a city ordinance requiring Los Angeles hospitals to adopt and implement suggested homeless discharge protocol in the near future.
Reverend Andy Bales, who is the CEO of a Skid Row rescue mission, argued on behalf of the Los Angeles hospitals. He says that many hospitals are desperately trying to meet the needs of their homeless patients and to discharge them properly and compassionately. Bales went on to say that in many cases the facilities that could potentially accept the patients are full and overworked, and frustrated hospital staffers are forced to make difficult choices.
“We’re all to blame. It’s going to take a heart change in our whole city and county to provide the services so hospitals have a place to call.”
What do you think? How much responsibility should a hospital have when it comes to the discharge of homeless patients? Should Los Angeles hospitals be required to follow city-mandated discharge protocol for the homeless?
[Image Courtesy Of Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images]
