UPI en Español  |   UPI Asia  |   About UPI  |   My Account
Search:
Go

L.A. hospitals send patients to skid row

|
 
Published: Nov. 26, 2005 at 7:09 PM

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- Three Los Angeles hospitals say that they often send homeless patients to the city's skid row when they are released.

The Los Angeles Times reports that hospital officials say that they have few choices because most services for the homeless and indigent are concentrated downtown. They also claim that no patients are released until they are in condition to fend for themselves.

Police and some shelters described seeing people who clearly still needed medical treatment.

Scott Johnson of Union Rescue Mission said that in 11 recent cases homeless men were sent there by taxi or ambulance without anyone calling first to make sure a bed was available. Three of the men were unable to say what hospital had discharged them.

Los Angeles Police Captain Andy Smith said that in one case a man strapped to a gurney was sent by ambulance to the rescue mission.

Topics: Andy Smith, Scott Johnson
© 2005 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
'Star Trek Into Darkness' screening NBC upfronts Met Ball 2013
'Great Gatsby' premieres in New York Spire raised on top of One WTC 2013: Celebrity break ups and divorces
Additional Top News Stories
1 of 16
Flags-In Ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery
View Caption
Staff Sgt. Jeffrey Roskos with the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, "The Old Guard," participates in the annual Flags-In ceremony, May 23, 2013, at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. Soldiers place American flags in front of more than 260,000 gravestones in the cemetery in honor of Memorial Day. UPI/Kevin Dietsch
fark
12 people get unhappy ending at Baghdad brothel
Meanwhile, in Wisconsin: Thong Cape Scooter Man
Lesbian teen arrested for sex with underage girlfriend refuses to take plea deal. Says she's not...
Photoshop these dudes and this deer
NPR asks the question: Who drinks water better -- dogs, cats, or pigeons? FIGHT
Who lives under 1,500 lbs. of pineapples in Jersey City?