Originally reported by LA Daily News, and no longer available on its website.
New homeless dumping allegation probed
BY KERRY CAVANAUGH, Staff Writer
The City Attorney’s Office is investigating whether Kaiser Permanente dumped a homeless patient on Skid Row, in violation of a settlement reached in a previous case.
The latest inquiry began after officials learned that workers from Kaiser’s Baldwin Hills hospital took a 26-year-old man with severe back pain to homeless shelters downtown against his will, officials said.
Kaiser spokesman Jim Anderson said the man agreed in writing to be dropped off at a facility near downtown and Kaiser hired a third party to drop the man off there. It was unclear how he wound up at a homeless shelter, Anderson said.
City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo is investigating the incident, which took place last month. His office said the hospital is cooperating.
As part of a settlement with Delgadillo’s office reached earlier this year, Kaiser agreed to adopt a protocol for releasing homeless patients.
In June, however, Kaiser employees allegedly tried to take Jose Gonzalez, 26, to the New Images shelter on Skid Row, although he was suffering severe back pain and using a walker.
New Images would not accept him because it cannot accommodate people with walkers, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing Gonzalez.
The Kaiser workers then took Gonzalez to the Union Rescue Mission, the City Attorney’s Office said.
But Anderson said Kaiser informed New Images it would be dropping off Gonzalez and that New Images was aware that he had a walker. He was to stay at New Images for a day and a half before being transferred to Project Achieve, which provides the social services Gonzalez needs, Anderson said.
ACLU Legal Director Mark Rosenbaum said Kaiser needs to do more than just adopt a protocol.
“It’s clear that there is a very ingrained culture at Kaiser that equates being homeless with the idea that you can be dumped in Skid Row,” he said. “Here needs to be serious discussion on what can be done to change that.”
And why am I not surprised that they continue to do it….?
This is an automated message I got when I left a very reasonable question for the CEO of KP on his blog, to respond to. I never heard back from Jeanne, either. What transparency! My god, you can see right through them!
>>Jeanne N Hughes is out of the office.
From: Jeanne.N.Hughes@kp.org
Sent:Sun 7/08/07 5:06 AM
I will be out of the office starting 07/03/2007 and will not return until07/09/2007. I will be out of the office July 4-6. I look forward to responding to yourmessage upon my return.Thanks!
They never had any intention of adhering to the spirit of the settlement agreement. They did what they always do: resorted to legal maneuvers to limit their liability by making the patient sign something, and they probably tricked him into it. Or forged his signature.
In response to the 2nd comment, what did you expect from Halvorson? He’s nothing more nor less than a crook.
Good God. I guess it’s just too pricey to treat people as human beings, huh?
We’re all dogs ready to be kicked and dumped in kaiser’s world.
Edward Kaiser should have been bumped off eons ago before he had
a chance to get his brilliant idea called “kaiser” off the ground .
And now they dump the autistic children of Kaiser paying members into the hands of government.