Title: Are hospitals 'dumping' homeless patients on shelters, service agencies in Sacramento? | The Sacramento Bee
Headings: Are hospitals 'dumping' homeless patients on shelters, service agencies in Sacramento? | The Sacramento Bee
Are hospitals 'dumping' homeless patients on shelters, service agencies in Sacramento? | The Sacramento Bee
Homelessness
‘It was a scary thing.’ Hospital dumps senior at homeless shelter. He’s not the first
By Cynthia Hubert
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Content: Some are dropped off after Loaves has closed for the day, and arrive without needed wheelchairs, canes and prescriptions. Many are too frail to navigate the streets. Loaves has no overnight beds, Kohrummel said. “ If I see something like this happening, I’ll have the ambulance or the taxi take them right back to the hospital.” He is unsure what happens to them after that, he said. Joan Burke, advocacy director for Loaves, said the system for serving an estimated 2,000 homeless people in Sacramento County “is over-saturated. But hospitals have a moral and legal duty to discharge people to a suitable place.” Brian Jensen, regional vice president of the Hospital Council of Northern and Central California, agreed. But if some people fall through the cracks, “it’s not for a lack of good intentions or effort,” he said. California’s Health and Safety Code requires hospitals to have a discharge policy for all patients, including those who are homeless.