Caught On Tape: L.A. Hospital Dumps Patient

Randy Orton

WC's Resident Alchoholic

Caught On Tape: L.A. Hospital Dumps Patient
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(AP) LOS ANGELES A videotape of an elderly woman wandering Skid Row in a hospital gown and slippers is being examined by authorities investigating the practice of hospitals and police agencies dumping homeless people downtown.
Carol Ann Reyes, 63, of Gardena was taken from a Kaiser Permanente hospital in Bellflower on Monday to Skid Row, authorities said. Videotape recorded Monday by a surveillance camera outside the Union Rescue Mission showed a taxi cab drive out of camera view. Moments later, Reyes appeared from the direction of the cab.
Reyes wandered the street for about three minutes before a mission staff member brought her inside.
The city attorney's office is investigating.
"The tapes have been turned over to us," city attorney's spokesman Frank Mateljan said Thursday. "We have been looking into homeless dumping for some time and this (tape) gives us another example of what has been going on."
For several months, city officials have been looking into alleged dumping of homeless people in Skid Row, a ramshackle area of downtown. Several hospitals have acknowledged that they put some discharged indigent patients with nowhere else to go into taxicabs headed to Skid Row because the area offers the best chance for getting services and shelter.
Los Angeles police also are investigating whether other law enforcement agencies dump people downtown.
Diana Bonta, vice president of public affairs for Kaiser Southern California, said Thursday the incident violated hospital policy and would not occur again.
"We have a policy of treating our patients with compassion and care," Bonta said. "This should not have happened."
She said the hospital attempted to find a shelter for Reyes near, but when that failed, it was determined that she would be taken to the Union Rescue Mission. Hospital officials are trying to find out why Reyes wasn't dropped off at the shelter and why she was still wearing her hospital gown and slippers.
"We take responsibility because this is not type of discharge we would have wanted to happen," Bonta said.
Reyes, who had been taken to the hospital because of a bad fall, remains at the mission, said mission President Andy Bales. Reyes didn't know where she had come from and did not know where she was going, he said.
Reyes had been homeless in Gardena for at least 10 years and wants to return there.
Bales said Monday's incident was the third in the past week in which security cameras caught taxis dumping people. Bales said the number of "dumps" has decreased, but the problem will continue until a coordinated discharge plan between hospitals and shelters is created.
"We just can't drop people off like baggage," he said. "We can't have a society where these people have nowhere to turn when they need care."
Officials said hospitals that are dropping people off against their will could face criminal charges or be sued.
State Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, has introduced a bill that would prohibit any arresting agency from taking people who need drug treatment, mental health services or shelter outside of their jurisdiction.