[Marxism] Videotape captures patient dumping on LA skid row

[Brian Shannon <Brian_Shannon@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

The Associated Press
March 23, 2006

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A videocamera recorded a 63-year-old hospital
patient dressed only in a gown and slippers being dumped onto a skid
row street - a controversial practice that has come under fire from
police, politicians and homeless advocates.

Officials from Kaiser Permanente's Bellflower hospital apologized for
the incident, which occurred Monday and was revealed by authorities
during a Wednesday news conference.

The videotape, recorded by a camera mounted outside the downtown
Union Rescue Mission, shows a taxicab making a U-turn and driving out
of camera view. Moments later, a woman appears from the direction of
the cab, wandering for about three minutes on a street and a sidewalk
before mission staff take her inside the building.

"I'm just concerned about a society that would drop its most
vulnerable onto the streets of skid row," said the mission's
president, Andy Bales, who witnessed the incident. "It really
troubles me."
The patient, Carol Ann Reyes of Gardena, said in an interview that
she could not remember what happened when she left the hospital,
where she had been a patient for three days, or how she got to skid row.

Los Angeles police Capt. Andrew Smith said he believes she was taken
there against her will.
City Councilwoman Jan Perry described the episode as "egregious."

Diana Bonta, vice president of public affairs for Kaiser Southern
California, said the incident violated hospital policy and would not
occur again.

The issue of dumping people released from jails and hospitals onto
skid row surfaced in September, when Smith publicly complained about it.

The city attorney's office is investigating and may criminally charge
or sue hospitals that drop off patients against their will, officials
said.


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