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: It’s a huge problem in California.” Sometimes, homeless patients insist on being taken to specific shelters or agencies, or simply released to the streets, she said. In some communities, such as Los Angeles, patients are sometimes dropped off on skid row “because that is, in fact, where the services exist in that area for homeless people.” But the failure of some hospitals in L.A. to make prior arrangements for homeless patients has spurred a rash of lawsuits alleging “dumping” of poor people. In 2016, a Hawaiian Gardens hospital agreed to pay $450,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by the city for sending a homeless woman to skid row with no identification and wearing only paper pajamas. The settlement was part of a crackdown by the city attorney’s office on such practices. The Sacramento City Attorney’s Office did not respond when contacted with questions about patient dumping and whether the city was investigating the issue. Lewis said he became homeless about two months ago, after the rent on his apartment in Carmichael rose dramatically and he no longer was able to survive on his $1,500 monthly Social Security check. Before he was picked up by sheriff’s deputies in early December, he said, he slept behind a big-box store in the neighborhood. Sheriff’s deputies took him into custody on a psychiatric hold after they received a call about him knocking on doors and looking into windows.