L.A. Hospitals Investigated on Patient-Dumping
California lawmakers are considering a proposal to toughen penalties on hospitals for dumping homeless patients on Skid Row in Los Angeles.
One hospital that isn't accused of dumping is the Los Angeles County USC Medical Center. The hospital treats large numbers of the 90,000 homeless people in Los Angeles County.
Doctors and nurses there can't turn homeless patients away, but many are there to be treated for relatively minor ailments - and the costs of doing that in an emergency room are huge, as was evident on one recent night.
Related NPR Stories
Kaiser Faces Charges for Dumping Homeless Patient Nov. 16, 2006
Hospital Dumped Patients on Skid Row, Police Say Oct. 24, 2006
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