2nd hospital adopts patient discharge plan

Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, accused of dumping a homeless paraplegic patient on a skid row street, announced Friday that it would adopt the same discharge rules for the homeless as Kaiser Permanente agreed to this week to resolve criminal charges and lawsuits by the Los Angeles city attorney.

Kaiser’s settlement with the city attorney requires that it establish new discharge protocols for homeless patients and provide more training for employees, and calls for monitoring by retired U.S. District Judge Lourdes G. Baird.

Hollywood Presbyterian’s settlement terms, unlike Kaiser’s, do not require an outside monitor.

City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo said his office has an “active and ongoing” investigation into Hollywood Presbyterian related to the dumping of a homeless paraplegic man in February and others. “This announcement by itself doesn’t impact our investigation,” he said. Delgadillo also said he hopes all hospitals adopt the protocols and that some “bad actors” may need monitoring.

Hollywood Presbyterian is one of 10 hospitals being investigated by the city attorney in more than 50 cases of dumping in downtown L.A. over the last two years. In February, the 54-year-old discharged Hollywood Presbyterian patient, wearing a soiled hospital gown and with his colostomy bag still attached, was found crawling in the gutter near a skid row park.

Police said that as onlookers demanded help for the man, the driver for a van company working for the hospital applied makeup and perfume before speeding off.

Hospital officials acknowledged that some procedures weren’t followed. They said they have made changes and will make more.

Kaylor E. Shemberger, Hollywood Presbyterian’s chief executive, said the hospital administrators “felt it appropriate to be one of the first hospitals in Los Angeles to respond to the city attorney’s request to get on board with the protocols.”

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richard.winton@latimes.com