Kaiser Permanente agrees to reforms to settle charges in L.A. 'homeless dumping' case

More than a year after an elderly hospital patient was found wandering a crime-ridden area in a hospital gown and slippers, the nation's largest HMO agreed in a settlement with the city to changes aimed at ending the dumping of homeless patients on streets.

Kaiser Permanente will create new protocols for discharging homeless patients in its chain of hospitals, train staff and allow a retired U.S. district judge to monitor its progress, officials said Tuesday.

Carol Ann Reyes, 64, was discharged from Kaiser's Bellflower hospital in March 2006 and dropped off by a taxi outside the Union Rescue Mission in the city's notorious Skid Row area. She wandered around, apparently confused, for several minutes until mission staff took her in.

City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo filed charges in November and said he wanted to send a message to hospitals nationwide that engage in patient dumping. Los Angeles authorities are investigating allegations that a dozen area hospitals have dumped more than 50 homeless patients downtown.

Kaiser faced false imprisonment charges and civil claims related to the mistreatment of Reyes.

As part of the settlement, Kaiser will pay $5,000 in civil penalties, $50,000 in investigative costs to the city attorney's office and contribute $500,000 to a charitable foundation benefiting local homeless programs.

Kaiser previously denied any wrongdoing. Kaiser spokeswoman Diana Bonta said in November that hospital staff had called a taxi to take Reyes to Skid Row, but called ahead to the mission to let staff know she was on her way.

Dr. Benjamin Chu, president of Kaiser Permanente's Southern California region, said Tuesday that the release of Reyes was a breakdown in hospital protocol and an aberration.

"I don't think the policies and procedures were wrong," he said. "They just weren't as tight as we'd like them to be."