Montebello hospital to pay fine for patient dumping case

MONTEBELLO, Calif.

The City Attorney's Office announced the settlement on Friday. The stipulations also require Beverly Hospital to pay $50,000 in attorney fees.

As part of the settlement, Beverly Hospital did not admit any wrongdoing, but it will adopt new rules for screening and discharging patients who are homeless.

"Patient dumping is inhumane and intolerable," City Attorney Mike Feuer said in a news release. "My office will fight to protect everyone in our community, especially our most vulnerable."

The settlement ends litigation initiated by Feuer's office in December.

City attorneys accused the hospital of dumping a patient around May. The complaint said the hospital failed to perform a medical screening on the homeless patient, failed to stabilize and transfer the patient and improperly discharged the patient to Skid Row.

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