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: 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. Hospitals must make prior arrangements for patients, either with family, at a care home, or at another appropriate agency, the code says. But the task is easier said than done for health professionals dealing with people who have no place to live and may have mental illnesses and other complicated problems, said Jan Emerson-Shea, vice president of external affairs for the California Hospital Association. “Hospitals try to do a ‘warm hand-off’ if possible,” Emerson-Shea said. “ But if the person is homeless, who do the hospitals call? There are only so many shelter beds.