A Southern California medical center allegedly dumped a mentally ill patient on Skid Row and repeatedly failed to provide proper discharge protocols for her, according to a new lawsuit filed my Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer’s office.
The lawsuit against Gardens Regional Hospital and Medical Center in Hawaiian Gardens was announced Wednesday and focused on a 38-year-old homeless woman with a history of both physical and mental issues. She was allegedly driven to Skid Row in a van with the name Tri City Regional Medical Center on the doors, that is the former name of Gardens Regional Hospital and Medical Center.
"We allege the patient was dressed in nothing more than hospital paper tops and bottoms, had no money, no ID, no medication," Feuer said.
Backing his claims was Delia Sarmiento, an investigator for the city attorney’s office.
"Covered in her own waste, flies, ants, just cruel all together way to find her that way," Sarmiento said.
In a written statement sent to NBC4 from the hospital denied any wrong doing.
"Gardens Regional Hospital and Medical Center (the "Hospital") is appalled by the baseless, false and misleading allegations brought in a lawsuit filed yesterday by the Los Angeles Angeles City Attorney against the Hospital," it read.
Over the years, patient dumping on Skid Row has become a prolific problem in LA. Feuer previously resolved three cases involving patient dumping, resulting in $1.4 million in fines and donations to homeless services and changes in discharge policies.
An investigation led by the city attorney into the new case found the hospital discharged the same patient at least five times with little or no discharge plan.
The statement said otherwise, "Simply stated, the Hospital denies the allegations contained in the lawsuit filed yesterday by the Los Angeles City Attorney regarding the Hospital's role in transporting a patient who was discharged from the Hospital to a homeless shelter in downtown Los Angeles, as the patient demanded."
