Comments on: Dumped On Skid Row

Anderson Cooper Reports On The Practice Known As "Hospital Dumping"

[caljoe55]

(first half of comment)

Mr Coopers report on 5/20/06, although "eye opening", has much deeper roots, that he failed to mention in his report. In the United States, health care, for the most part, is a "for profit" privitized industry. The pharmaceutical companies probably make the most money within our healthcare system. Other private industries, like law firms, television stations, and restaurants, are "for profit" also, and do not have any responsibility to care for their clients, once they leave their establishments.

[genome2]

Three weeks ago you did a story advocating exposing the mentally ill to their college room mates and others.Now you do a story exposing some hospitals dirty little secret of dumping homeless (many of whom are mentally ill)into the streets.Was your motivation to help the mentally ill or just do a juicy story on some big name hospital.How do you go from harming the mentally ill to supposedly helping them.I'm begining to wonder about you CBS news.

[ttjan]

Anderson Cooper totally missed the point. This story was sophmoric at best. Awful. I thought I was watching Inside Edition or CNN.

No issue is simply black or white, and to report this story in such a light is quite insulting to your viewers.

Perhpas Anderson should have discussed all the myriad parties that are responsible for homelessness and lack of proper for them. In particular, lack of mental care.

It would have a much more thoughtful piece had Anderson discussed the myriad parties responsible for homeless care. Hospitals are there to provide healthcare, not shelter.

Your story should have also reported who actually pays for the homeless when they visit the ER. Would tax payers prefer to pay to keep someone in the hospital until a home is found for them? Or would you simply expect the hosptials to pay, which then trickles down to insurance companies and higher premiums?

If you want to keep intelligent viewers watching, report stories with depth. I expect this from 60 minutes, but not CNN, which is where this piece should have aired.

[metalmd]

Unfortunately Anderson Cooper has greatly missed the point on this issue.

The problem isn't that fact that patients are dumped or untreated, the problem is hospitals and other health care providers are being forced to do, what no other person or business, in this country, is expected to do.

And that is to provide a service, without getting any compensation for providing that surface.

As long as health care providers are required to treat anyone, regardless of the ability to pay, and are not being reimbursed for that care, where is the incentive to treat such people.

What ultimately will happen is, a greater proportion of health care costs will be shifted to those that currently have insurance, forcing costs to rise dramatically, forcing more people to go without insurance, and creating an even greater burden on health care providers.

It is an endless cycle which will ultimately lead to the whole health care system collapsing under its own weight, and the only ones who will be able to afford health care will be the super rich.

We can no longer continue to treat health care like a commodity distributed according to the ability to pay, rather than a social service distributed according to need.

[caljoe55]

(continuation of first half, sent by mistake button push)

Hospitals and doctors, though, are expected by our society, to somehow "magically" improve the lives of people, regardless of their finances, lack of family support or income, and "chauffeur" these people to wherever they want to go after leaving the hospital. This is clearly a double standard. These people can't even pay for the expensive treatment they've gotten in the hospitals in the first place. If hospitals and doctors had unlimited financial resources to provide medical and social services to all Americans, as is the case in other first world countries, I would have no issue with Mr. Cooper's report. American voters, though, do not have the political will to provide universal health care and social services to their fellow Americans citizens, and I do not see this ever happening during my lifetime. Do not "blame" one or two hospitals for situations that reflect problems of American society in general.

Joseph Warren, MD, OB/GYN, Redlands CA

[metalmd]

Unfortunately Anderson Cooper has greatly missed the point on this issue.

The problem isn't that fact that patients are dumped or untreated, the problem is hospitals and other health care providers are being forced to do, what no other person or business, in this country, is expected to do.

And that is to provide a service, without getting any compensation for providing that surface.

As long as health care providers are required to treat anyone, regardless of the ability to pay, and are not being reimbursed for that care, where is the incentive to treat such people.

What ultimately will happen is, a greater proportion of health care costs will be shifted to those that currently have insurance, forcing costs to rise dramatically, forcing more people to go without insurance, and creating an even greater burden on health care providers.

It is an endless cycle which will ultimately lead to the whole health care system collapsing under its own weight, and the only ones who will be able to afford health care will be the super rich.

We can no longer continue to treat health care like a commodity distributed according to the ability to pay, rather than a social service distributed according to need.

[randalds]

bty, RandalDS, u r a complete idiot. FU *******!


Posted by papaofnate at 09:55 PM : May 20, 2007


Hmmmm....some people should give up the raw alcohol.

Anyway tomorrow my wife will again be going out into L.A. to try to provide psychiatric services for people in Los Angeles County as an RN for the county. She and many of our friends who are also in the psychiatric field are dedicated people, but they resent being used by city politicians to try to clean up the homeless problem downtown, just to please the new well to do condo owners who've moved in down there. The crack down has cleaned up skid row to some extent, but all it really has down is to drive the homeless out into the Valley (San Fernando) and out to the shoreline in Santa Monica and Venice. When the police crack down is over they'll all migrate back downtown because that's were the homeless services are. All Los Angeles is doing is sweeping the problem from one place to another, without doing a thing to try to fix it. Now the county is talking about stopping psychiatric services for the homeless completely, at the hospital and for emergencies. It's inhuman and inhumane.

[librablue-2009]

In the first place, these hospitals are not following the California Health Code. Is it only applicable for those who have health care insurance?

No matter what, there is absolutely no excuse for dumping anyone, especially someone with dementia, out on the streets without their clothing and follow up instructions, or dumping a parapalegic on the streets without a wheelchair or walker. Ms. Reyes and Mr. Olvera were not merely homeless, they were also severly disabled and the hospitals acknowledged it.

Like so many other %u201Cbusinesses,%u201D hospitals are willing to take the risk because chances are slim that they will ever be exposed for something like this. In my opinion, their excuses sounded hollow.

I don%u2019t understand the attacks on Anderson Cooper. If his report helps to get attrocities like this exposed and changed then I don%u2019t care what opinions people have about his intentions. Frankly, he could have done a more %u201Cglamorous%u201D story if he was looking for attention.

[mhoward007]

Is this the main conclusion I should draw from this report? That not only should hospital systems care for those who have no ability or intention of paying for their services, but they also should pay for their care afterwards. How does it become a hospital's responsibilty to care for people after medical care has been completed? If I were charitable enough to take care of a homeless person for a few days and decide to take him back to skid row, should I expect a knock on my door from Anderson?

[nannettemc]

60 Minutes fell short at tonight's "Dumped on Skid Row". The full scope of the problem was not explored while hospitals were singled out as the culprit. If Social Services, Mental Health Organizations, Homeless Shelters and the like are unable to adequately manage the complex social issues facing the homeless, why would you expect hospitals, discretely charged with managing healthcare, to do any better at finding the resources needed following a hospital stay. Shame on all of us for not doing a better job of this.

[metalmd]

Unfortunately Anderson Cooper has greatly missed the point on this issue.

The problem isn't that fact that patients are dumped or untreated, the problem is hospitals and other health care providers are being forced to do, what no other person or business, in this country, is expected to do.

And that is to provide a service, without getting any compensation for providing that surface.

As long as health care providers are required to treat anyone, regardless of the ability to pay, and are not being reimbursed for that care, where is the incentive to treat such people.

What ultimately will happen is, a greater proportion of health care costs will be shifted to those that currently have insurance, forcing costs to rise dramatically, forcing more people to go without insurance, and creating an even greater burden on health care providers.

It is an endless cycle which will ultimately lead to the whole health care system collapsing under its own weight, and the only ones who will be able to afford health care will be the super rich.

We can no longer continue to treat health care like a commodity distributed according to the ability to pay, rather than a social service distributed according to need.

[metalmd]

Unfortunately Anderson Cooper has greatly missed the point on this issue.

The problem isn't that fact that patients are dumped or untreated, the problem is hospitals and other health care providers are being forced to do, what no other person or business, in this country, is expected to do.

And that is to provide a service, without getting any compensation for providing that surface.

As long as health care providers are required to treat anyone, regardless of the ability to pay, and are not being reimbursed for that care, where is the incentive to treat such people.

What ultimately will happen is, a greater proportion of health care costs will be shifted to those that currently have insurance, forcing costs to rise dramatically, forcing more people to go without insurance, and creating an even greater burden on health care providers.

It is an endless cycle which will ultimately lead to the whole health care system collapsing under its own weight, and the only ones who will be able to afford health care will be the super rich.

We can no longer continue to treat health care like a commodity distributed according to the ability to pay, rather than a social service distributed according to need.

[mhoward007]

Is this the main conclusion I should draw from this report? That not only should hospital systems care for those who have no ability or intention of paying for their services, but they also should pay for their care afterwards. How does it become a hospital's responsibilty to care for people after medical care has been completed? If I were charitable enough to take care of a homeless person for a few days and decide to take him back to skid row, should I expect a knock on my door from Anderson?

[dsmith1863]

I thank Mr. Cooper for looking into the stories of those who have no voice and no political power. It was such a shame when the political governments of Canada and the States banished institutionalized housing, decades ago, for the insane/mentally incompetent. And to think that this was all done to "protect their human rights". This is the most inhumane treatment of all, to assume that the community and families of those persons are competent enough to deal with the mental illness of a family member. I have seen scores of mentally ill homeless people who go without health care, without showers and without food for days...months - all because some idiot decided that that is their right!!! We need, as a society, to care for those who cannot care for themselves - and if that is to house them in an institution, I can think of no better solution. My thoughts are "politically INcorrect" to be sure, but they are humane and thoughtful for those who cannot help themselves! I ask you - WHERE IS OUR HUMANITY???!!!

[hercules691]

I was appalled that some hospitals are dumping patients out on the streets. It makes no difference if they are homeless they shouldn't be treated like dirt. It angered me to see that poor elderly woman and paralygic man just being thrown away like a peice of garbage. When I heard that the woman was confused and that her blood pressure was high I immediately thought about a stroke. Something needs to be done about this. I was glad to see that there are some attorneys working on it. Hopefully they can put a stop to it.

[pleasingman]

Anderson

A warm feely touching story but I think I have a brilliant solution..........we all know how MEXICO is dumping ILLEGALS here even encouraging them to come to El Norte.

Why doesnt the Mexican Gov't take one HOMELESS person in the USA for every ILLEGAL that has crossed into the USA ??? We would get buses, round up the homeless in every city, and send the homesless to Mexico.

We would rid the USA of 20 million homeless and give them all to MEXICO......and I for one think that is a fair trade. The peasant hoards crossing into here for the homeless living in a warm all year hospitable climate looked after by the Mexicans. Its the least they can do since we are looking after their uneducated peasant hoards that wander into the USA, droppign babies sending money home to Mexico so there is plenty of money the mexican govt gets to take car of the USA Homeless !!!

A problem solved by just using a little ingenuity.

Welcome to life int he 21st Century.....

[dgarzila-2009]

I live in a residential hotel in skid row, we call this place Central City East , which is the map designated name of the community.



Never has Cedars Sinai Medical Center just dumped me into the streets nor have they ever not double or triple checked to make sure I am not putting them on when I say I live in Downtown skid row. I wished all other hospitals were like Cedars Sinai Medical Center.

The City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo has made our lives much better now because of the lawsuits he brought against those hospitals who have poor discharge planning and these hospitals also now have to treat the poor of Los Angeles with respect now.

We are not asking the hospitals to provide housing for the homeless, what we are asking is that they pay for more social workers who can network, such as Cedars Sinai does , making sure the homeless get to places they need to get to, either for respite care , board and care , etc.

Anderson Cooper has done a fine job of and has done justice in his report.

you can go to my blog , the only blog in skid row from a disabled resident who has lived here for 8 years.
http://www.centralcitye.blogspot.com

[glowtown7]

As a member of the medical community and one whose job is to place the homeless in shelters and missions it is very frustrating to find housing and shelter in communities where the resources are limited. Declining National, State and local financial assistance for these people as well as limited mental healthcare has added to the number of homeless that are dropped off at the local "skid row." I am open to suggestions including sending the homeless home with those who cry foul the loudest. Put your money where your mouth is and support your local mission and shelter.

[papaofnate]

I'VE BEEN ATTACKED... I AM A BRAND NEW RN, A LPN 4 7 YRS... I JUST WANT TO MAKE IT BETTER...DON'T ATTACK ME, WE NEED TO STAY TOGETHERR, WHEN WE ALL SUPPORT WE WILL GET STRONGER..

[papaofnate]

I NEVER INTENDED TO BBLAME ANY NURSE. GOD BLESS U ALL... I HOPE I NCAN LIVE TO HELP PATIENTS N NURSRSE.
, THIS IS MY PLEDGE.. LETS HELP PT.S N NURSES!