Video of patient left at cold bus stop wearing only hospital gown goes viral
The University of Maryland Medical Center is investigating how a woman was discharged, wearing only a gown and hospital socks, at a bus stop at night.
A bystander, Imamu Baraka posted a video on Facebook showing her mumbling and coughing in the frigid weather. He tells her an ambulance has been called after security officers walk away. The ambulance then returns her to the medical center’s emergency room.
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A statement from the hospital Wednesday expressed “shock and disappointment.” It confirmed that the woman was discharged Tuesday night from the emergency department of its Midtown campus.
“This unfortunate event is not representative of our patient-centered mission,” the statement said.
“While there are many circumstances of this patient’s case that we cannot address publicly, in the end, we clearly failed to fulfill our mission with this patient, no matter the circumstances of her case or the quality of the clinical care we provided in the hospital (which is not depicted in the video).”
The hospital said it is evaluating an appropriate response, “including the possibility of personnel action.”
Since being posted on Tuesday night, Baraka’s video has been shared over 5,000 times and has been viewed by millions.
The video was even shared on Facebook by Heather Mizeur, a former member of the Maryland House of Delegates and a Democratic candidate for governor in 2014. “I’m going to be on a holy reign of terror demanding some answers here,” she wrote.
