Pacifica Hospital of the Valley will pay $1 million to settle "patient dumping" allegations
Hospital improperly discharged homeless patient, violated city law and hospital's homeless discharge protocols, City Attorney says.
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Pacifica Hospital of the Valley in Los Angeles has agreed to pay $1 million in civil penalties over allegations that it improperly discharged a homeless patient in direct violation of city law and the hospital's homeless discharge protocols. The civil penalties will be paid to the city attorney's office.
The incident in question involves Pacifica Hospital allegedly discharging Kasey Lucious, a patient with a history of mental illness and homelessness, from the Sun Valley hospital following a 30-day stay without contacting relatives who had requested to be notified of her whereabouts.
The hospital is accused of sending the patient by taxi to a mid-city nursing facility without first receiving written confirmation that the facility would admit her. Pacifica also did not receive verbal confirmation from the facility that the patient had arrived. Lucious failed to check into the facility and was subsequently missing for three days before being found wandering the streets by the California Highway Patrol.
Improper discharges have earned the euphemism "patient dumping," and Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer has called the practice unacceptable.
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"Patient dumping is inhumane and we won't tolerate it," said Feuer in a statement. "This case underscores that when a hospital adopts homeless patient discharge protocols, it's got to follow them."
This is the second time Pacifica has settled with the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office over alleged patient dumping. In May 2014, Pacifica agreed to pay $500,000 and adopt homeless patient discharge protocols.
Feuer has made putting a stop to patient dumping a priority of his administration, settling five cases and securing nearly $3 million from defendant hospitals. Feuer also filed litigation against Gardens Regional Hospital in 2015 and the case is set for trial in October.
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"Over the past two months, Pacifica Hospital has fully cooperated with the City Attorney's investigation of the matter," the hospital said in a statement. Pacifica said it agreed to reach a settlement to avoid the costs of litigation, and that it did not amount to an admission of liability.
Twitter: @JELagasse
