You Wanted Angry...

I hope all of you are as pissed off by this:

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... a paraplegic man in a soiled gown sliding along the sidewalk with his hands, clutching a plastic bag with his belongings between his teeth.

Police said the man, who was dragging a broken colostomy bag behind him, was dumped on the sidewalk Thursday in one of the worst parts of the city by the driver of a hospital van. The area is the same location where city officials say hospitals have dumped the homeless before.

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And what was the name of the hospital who dumped him? Hollywood Presbyterian. From the hospitals web site:

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The hospital is committed to serving local multicultural communities with expert medical and nursing care. With over 500 physicians representing virtually every specialty, CHA Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center is ready to serve your medical needs and those of your loved ones and strives to distinguish itself as a leading health care provider, recognized for providing quality, innovative care in a compassionate manner.

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I think something went badly, badly awry, don't you? A hospital spokesperson is quoted as saying:

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"These are very serious allegations. Our goal is to get to the bottom of exactly what happened. If we determine a mistake of this magnitude was made, we will respond swiftly and appropriately," Springer said.

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I'd say that's a bit of an understatement. How about "We're sorry!" How about an "Oops!" How does one exactly determine the "magnitude of the mistake"? By saying, "Oh, wait! We rented that van, so we aren't entirely responsible..." or "They wrote the wrong thing on his chart--the "they" that don't work here, so we aren't that culpable for the situation..."

THIS IS A PARAPLEGIC!! HE HAS NO WORKING LEGS!!

Of course, this isn't the first hospital in the area to be dumping their patients; apparently it's been going on for years! And these people are in the business of "caring for others"? WTF?!?!?!?

Of course, the irony is not lost on me that this was a Christian-affiliated hospital... I guess when you're so concerned with money and eternal souls, a man without legs seems almost blase...

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Witnesses, all homeless people, began shouting, "Where is his wheelchair? Where is his walker?" Detective Russ Long said Friday. They told officers the driver responded that the man defecated in the van and had to be removed.

"If there is an explanation it just eludes me at this point," Long said.

"He was sliding along on his bottom using his hands. He had a hospital property bag in his mouth, in his teeth, and he was trailing a colostomy bag, which was malfunctioning."

Witnesses told police a van from Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center pulled up to a tiny park in the grimy area near downtown at 10:45 a.m. Thursday, a side door opened and a man, dressed in a green hospital gown and pants, began struggling to get out. The driver looked on.

"His pants fell around his ankles. He fell onto the curb with his legs dangling onto the street," Long said. "He reached down and grabbed his pants, pulled his legs onto the sidewalk. Witnesses said the van would have run over his legs if he hadn't have done that."

The 41-year-old man's name was not released, but he was wearing a bracelet from the hospital, Long said.

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But, you know, this needs "investigated." The fact that the van, the hospital ID, and the bag the man had to clench between his teeth were all from the hospital leaves a lot of unanswered questions about where the man could have come from, right?

When we normally talk about the health-care crisis in this country, we focus on the insurance companies, the cost of prescriptions--you know, bureaucratic-type issues. What about real-time care and concern! Doctors take an oath, part of which states:

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I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm.

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And the hospital itself has this as its mission statement on its web site:

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Mission:
Quality Care with Compassion and Respect.

Vision:
CHA Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center is a primary care community hospital serving the health care needs of all members of the population within its service area. HPMC strives to distinguish itself as a community health care provider, recognized for providing quality, innovative care in a compassionate manner.

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So what happened? What went wrong? Why was a man who can't walk left on the sidewalk in the middle of the night on Skid Row?

WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!?!?!

The most recent study I could find on patient dumping was from 2001 (PDF format), and the statistics are scary:

1. Violations were confirmed for 527 hospitals in 46 states, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico (Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin). These confirmed violations have not appeared in our previous reports.
2. 72.5% of hospitals violating the Act were not-for-profit hospitals (382 hospitals out of 527). 19.7 % were for-profit hospitals (104 out of 527). The profit status of 41 hospitals (8%) was unknown.
3. A patient’s insurance status influences hospital compliance with the Act. Some insurers, such as HMOs require pre-authorization for examination or treatment or deny reimbursement when an exam rules out the presence of an emergency condition. Hospitals often must choose between providing services without reimbursement or violating EMTALA.

We spend more money than any other country in the world on medicine and medical procedures--and we can't take care of one paraplegic...

How tragically, utterly sad...