Hospitals and patient dumping

This is one of those devil-in-the-details cases. The City Council is considering a proposal that would impose $25,000 fines on hospitals that drop off patients at places that are not their residences. As in, say, Skid Row. But by making the offense a misdemeanor, the hospital could lose millions of dollars in federal funding. There's also the matter of jurisdiction: what happens if the hospital is in Burbank and the patient-dumping is in L.A.? Supporters of the measure, being led by City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, say there's nothing all that complicated about the idea. From the Daily Journal (no link available):

Those who want to make patient dumping a misdemeanor say they have no interest in shuttering hospitals but that the criminal offense is essential. "We tried to do it their way, and it is not working," said Councilwoman Jan Perry, whose district includes Skid Row, where many of the alleged patient-dumping incidents have occurred because of the area's high concentration of homeless shelters. "We are still seeing dumping [incidents]. I think this ordinance will get us the piece we need for enforcement," Perry said. The county's Board of Supervisors, which oversees four public hospitals, has opposed levying criminal penalties against hospitals. County public health officials say the root problem is a lack of places to take recovered homeless patients. The hospitals say that misdemeanor convictions would lead to a loss of certification in Medicare or Medi-Cal, the state's health care program for the poor, elderly and disabled.

The Council takes up the measure on Wednesday.