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Hospitals Accused of Dumping Patients on Skid Row

The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating two more alleged cases of hospital patients being dumped on L.A.'s Skid Row. In one incident, police are checking surveillance video. That investigation is centered at LAPD's Central Division Headquarters.

The investigation has just begun. LAPD is in the preliminary stages of gather information. In fact, even the hospitals allegedly involved have not been officially notified of the complaints.

In the last several days two patients came to Skid Row, one in serious need of medical care, and the other in serious need of psychiatric care.

Security guards at the Union Rescue Mission saw video just after midnight on Sunday: A man, barefoot, face bandaged, who had just been dropped off -- not by an ambulance or a health care provider, but by a United Independent taxicab. He told the guards that he was in severe pain and could barely walk, and had come from the Veterans Administration Hospital. According to the Union Rescue Mission, it appears to be a violation of L.A.'s anti-dumping law.

The shelter says there was no notification from any hospital that a patient was coming.

"The man said he never wanted to come to Skid Row. He never asked to come to Union Rescue Mission, and as soon as he got a chance, he went back to the hospital," said Andy Bales of the Union Rescue Mission.

Two days earlier, a similar incident. A man named Brian, who carried discharge papers from Western Medical Center in Anaheim, more than 24 miles from Skid Row. A staff member notes that "Patient has no realistic plans for self-care. Patient is agitated, delusional, and threatened staff with physical harm."

LAPD is investigating both cases. "We have to determine if there was prior notification to the Mission, the shelters, on whether there's availability for beds," said LAPD Captain Jodi Wakefield.

The Los Angeles City Attorney's Office has been cracking down on hospitals that have dumped indigent patients.

In one case, a paraplegic man was left without a wheelchair or a walker. In the latest incidents there's concern that bringing patients to Skid Row could cause further injury.

The Union Rescue Mission has this message: "Find appropriate follow-up services nearby for your homeless patients. Don't send them to the mean streets of Skid Row," said Andy Bales.

"They [the hospitals] need to know that they're responsible for these patients and there's a protocol that they have to follow, and they're going to be held accountable for it," said Capt. Wakefield.

An update on the two patients: The one from the VA Hospital was returned to that hospital, but in the care of paramedics. The second man was cared for at the Union Rescue Mission for two days, then he walked off. He had no medication.

It is horrendous that this has happened to any individual. It is even more horrendous when it has happened to a Veteran. A person that has served and protected this nation being thrown away like useless refuse. It is an embarrassment to the nation.


Where is the "I Support The Troops" crowd in Washington now?

Yes, this is an awful situation.  As you know, I live in Los Angeles.  I think the problem is that our hospitals are so overcrowded.....especially with illegal immigrants that use the emergency rooms like a regular doctor's office.  (And they do not have to pay for it....the state pays for it.)  I pray my mother and I never have to go to the hospital.

The situation with the illegal aliens is getting worse and does cause a lot of problems with the hospitals. They shouldn't be having this drastic an effect on the VA Hospitals though.

Yes, that's true about the VA hospital.  I think there is only one in the city....and that is located in the "good" area of West L.A.  Quite a taxi drive from there to downtown where the cab dropped him off.

It all boils down to the fact that our politicians would rather spend money on people of other nations than they would to help their own. Don't get me wrong. I am all for helping the needy whoever and where ever they may be but our own yards need to be taken care of first.

Yes, I agree the government got really lopsided on this issue.  (I, too, believe in helping the poor everywhere.)  But, we do need to take care of our citizens.  I think when we all get older, we realize these things more so.

A Catholic Sister (like a nun) in our building had to walk to the emergency room while having a heart attack....this was because so many cars were lined up for getting to the ER, alot with non-life threatening issues.  Her friend who also lives here walked with her to the ER.  That's how I started taking care of her cat and using her computer in exchange....even though I've known them for much longer.

That is truly sad and I'm sure that there is a whole lot more such stories that we never here about.