3 Ambulance Cases Diverted, Inquiry Finds

Los Angeles County health officials investigating charges that Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital in Inglewood has refused for economic reasons to accept ambulances carrying indigent patients found three cases where patients were inappropriately diverted to other hospitals.

But they concluded that these were “isolated cases” and do not indicate a willful pattern of abuse by hospital personnel.

The president of the United Paramedics of Los Angeles, Fred Hurtado, has charged that in numerous instances hospital officials across the county have prevented paramedics from bringing seriously ill patients to their emergency rooms for economic reasons.

County regulations require hospitals to treat and stabilize patients in distress regardless of their ability to pay. But this has placed a financial burden on many hospitals. Hurtado claims that it has prompted some hospitals to report their emergency rooms are full when they are not.

Five Instances

Last month, Hurtado cited five instances where nurses at Daniel Freeman Hospital allegedly diverted patients to other hospitals. These included a man suffering from chest pains on Oct. 16; an unconscious, half-naked woman who had been thrown out of a speeding car in South-Central Los Angeles on July 18, and a man, Elray Wise, who had been shot in the head on Oct. 26.

Virginia Price Hastings in the Health Services Department said that county investigators concluded that in these cases, the hospital staff at Daniel Freeman “inappropriately diverted patients to other hospitals.”

But two other cases cited by paramedics were handled appropriately, she said.

“The paramedics had some legitimate concerns,” Hastings said. “We will work directly with Daniel Freeman Hospital administration to prevent future instances of questionable patient destination decisions. Overall, we feel the hospital is appropriately fulfilling its responsibility as a paramedic base hospital.”

She said her conclusion was based not only on an investigation of five cases cited by Hurtado but on a random review of 60 cases handled by the hospital in November.

Hastings said she notified Freeman of “specific areas for correction” but would not say what these were.

Economic Reasons

In a statement, Freeman’s medical director, Dr. Arthur Shapiro, said the hospital has traditionally provided “outstanding emergency care.” He said he is pleased that independent investigators have exonerated the hospital of charges that it deliberately misdirected patients away from the emergency room for economic reasons.

Hurtado said the county’s action is much too lenient and that responsible hospital personnel should be disciplined.

“If a paramedic were to breach protocol in a similar fashion, he’d face suspension or complete de-certification,” he said. “It seems that the only people held accountable in this system are the paramedics. Everybody else seems to be getting away with murder.”

He added that more and more hospitals are temporarily closing their emergency rooms to ambulance traffic--usually because they are genuinely full but sometimes to prevent paramedics from delivering unprofitable cases to their doorsteps.

He said that last weekend, 17 emergency rooms in metropolitan and South-Central Los Angeles were closed at the same time.