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We’re quick to judge without thinking about possible situations involved. I’m not defending the staff, but there may be more to the story than a patient dump due to lack of funds or insurance. Hospitals are regularly invaded by homeless looking for a warm place to stay in the cold winter. Some of these homeless cause problems and have to be escorted out by security staff. Unless they create further disturbance then police aren’t called. In this case she was a patient and so a different set of rules apply. Why wasn’t she given back the clothing she arrived in? Why was she dumped at a bus stop in nothing more than a hospital gown?
Status:
"I don't understand. But I don't care, so it works out."
(set 4 days ago)
35,612 posts, read 17,940,183 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MJJersey
If you think that people don’t end up in an ED naked, then you should do some volunteering in one. It’s not the hospital’s job to transport and house people who are discharged. And I’m not sure what you mean by charging a person with ”depraved indifference.” There is no such crime.
I have volunteered in a hospital, actually. Very few people come in naked. Some, but if you see her being dumped in a hospital gown on the street in freezing weather, it's most likely they didn't bother to give her clothes back. But I don't know.
It's the hospital's job to make sure they aren't discharging someone who will surely face death if some random stranger doesn't intervene. That's why they make sure someone has a safe ride home, has someone at the house who will be able to help them out, etc. I know this. I know if you have a medical procedure that will make you unable to drive, they won't just watch you walk out the door. They witness you getting into a car with someone else driving. (And frankly, sometimes that person is just a cab driver who takes you to your car in the parking lot. But the hospital tried.)
Here's a link on "depraved indifference" and the law. There is, actually, a charge of depraved indifference. I don't know if the person has to actually die from the indifference of another, or if someone can be charged with that and the victim lived through the incident due to the kindness of a stranger.
We’re quick to judge without thinking about possible situations involved. I’m not defending the staff, but there may be more to the story than a patient dump due to lack of funds or insurance. Hospitals are regularly invaded by homeless looking for a warm place to stay in the cold winter. Some of these homeless cause problems and have to be escorted out by security staff. Unless they create further disturbance then police aren’t called. In this case she was a patient and so a different set of rules apply. Why wasn’t she given back the clothing she arrived in? Why was she dumped at a bus stop in nothing more than a hospital gown?
Because they didn't care about her. They knew she was homeless and they felt her life had no value, and felt they could treat her any way they wanted to.
Because they didn't care about her. They knew she was homeless and they felt her life had no value, and felt they could treat her any way they wanted to.
Plus this isnt the first time a hospital has been in the news for dumping homeless people.
I think it has to be money motivated from the top but I couldnt imagine being one of those guards tossing her out that night. Thats one order I would have had a hard time with.
I saw this on the news last night. Someone filmed the lady walking near the bus stop on her hospital gown and she seemed disoriented. Makes no sense the hospital staff would let her leave like that! She clearly wasn’t even in the right state of mind! The hospital Rep seemed somewhat concerned and sorry, but not enough in my opinion! Absolutely ridiculous and sad!
If you think that people don’t end up in an ED naked, then you should do some volunteering in one. It’s not the hospital’s job to transport and house people who are discharged. And I’m not sure what you mean by charging a person with ”depraved indifference.” There is no such crime.
Considering that her clothes/possessions were put out with her at the bus stop, I'm guessing she didn't arrive naked. And she was a missing person, according to her mother.
In her condition, she should have been put on a 72 hour psychiatric hold, which would also have given time for social workers to locate family, medical history, psychiatric history, etc. Putting someone out on the street in freezing weather with no warm clothing on is cruelty - also not a hospital's job.
In Maryland, there is a category of murder called "depraved heart murder", which is defined thusly:
"Second-Degree Depraved Heart Murder.
Second-degree murder is the killing of another person while acting with an extreme disregard for human life. In order to convict the defendant of second-degree murder, the State must prove:
(1) that the defendant caused the death of (name);
(2) that the defendant's conduct created a very high risk to the life of (name); and
(3) that the defendant, conscious of such risk, acted with extreme disregard of the life-endangering consequences."
Now, this woman did not die, in large part due to the doctor who stopped and helped her. Had she died, someone could have been charged with "depraved heart" aka, depraved indifference murder.
It’s hard to blame only the hospital, the community shares in that blame... where do you send a patient when they don’t require ACUTE inpatient care? The answer? To a nursing facility, etc etc... but often times these facilities are inundated with patients and the hospital needs to clear out beds for new patients that actually need care... so what do you do? Tell the new patient that needs medical care to get lost or the the patient that won’t leave to sleep on the floor? The hospital is in a tough position and the state has no rules, guidelines, or better yet, a facility to take in these patients that don’t need acute care...
Status:
"I don't understand. But I don't care, so it works out."
(set 4 days ago)
35,612 posts, read 17,940,183 times
Reputation: 50639
Quote:
Originally Posted by evilnewbie
It’s hard to blame only the hospital, the community shares in that blame... where do you send a patient when they don’t require ACUTE inpatient care? The answer? To a nursing facility, etc etc... but often times these facilities are inundated with patients and the hospital needs to clear out beds for new patients that actually need care... so what do you do? Tell the new patient that needs medical care to get lost or the the patient that won’t leave to sleep on the floor? The hospital is in a tough position and the state has no rules, guidelines, or better yet, a facility to take in these patients that don’t need acute care...
Those are good questions. Certainly, the hospital can't wheel a patient who has been through intake and received services out into the cold with a cotton gown in the freezing weather onto the street. That doesn't work. There's no point of her being hospitalized if the staff is going to push her out to freeze to death.
Maybe inner city hospitals like this one should have a large lounge room - where patients who are awaiting discharge could be housed until family could pick them up, or a space at a shelter is found. AT THE VERY LEAST, they should be clothed adequately for the weather before being discharged.
And if that means you have to house them within the city council chambers so funding/facilities are made available, so be it.
Surely the person who signed the discharge paperwork and the staff who took her to the bus stop in that condition are guilty of some crime. "Sorry" doesn't cover the situation, the way to prevent this in the future is to arrest the involved parties and let them explain their actions to a judge.
Surely the person who signed the discharge paperwork and the staff who took her to the bus stop in that condition are guilty of some crime. "Sorry" doesn't cover the situation, the way to prevent this in the future is to arrest the involved parties and let them explain their actions to a judge.
Them, and whoever ordered and or condoned the discharge!
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