Texas woman released from hospital with a bus pass later found dead, family says

[Scholar4Truth]

Texas woman released from hospital with a bus pass later found dead, family says: Reports A Texas woman who was released from the hospital early Tuesday morning with just a bus pass was later found dead, her family told local media.

[+susieice]

Forgive me if this sounds a little weird to me. They knew it was cold and they were concerned? They saw her as she was discharged but they didn't take her home? Did the hospital call them to say she was there? How concerned were they? She was released Monday morning and they reported her missing on Wednesday? The hospital seems to have thought she was homeless. This makes no sense.

Why do I think this family really didn't bother at all with this woman and only know what the police told them? I doubt they were even at the hospital. I guess maybe she's good for a lawsuit now.

From the article...

Their family was concerned because it was quite cold in the area when she was released and she didn’t have much on her.

"She was discharged from the emergency room, oddly at 5 a.m. and given a bus pass and sent on her way,” her brother told the news outlet. “That was actually the last we saw of her as she was discharged as a homeless person, even more strangely, from the Northeast Baptist Emergency Room.”

Edited December 3, 2024 by susieice

[Alchopwn]

Why weren't her family there to pick her up like normal people?

[Hankenhunter]

This seems to be happening more often. Perhaps because pay to play hospitals have a bottom line when it comes to perceived poor people. Gotta make room for the richer folk who can afford better care through insurance, and cash. It's happened in Canada too. 

[Hankenhunter]

2 hours ago, susieice said:

Forgive me if this sounds a little weird to me. They knew it was cold and they were concerned? They saw her as she was discharged but they didn't take her home? Did the hospital call them to say she was there? How concerned were they? She was released Monday morning and they reported her missing on Wednesday? The hospital seems to have thought she was homeless. This makes no sense.

Why do I think this family really didn't bother at all with this woman and only know what the police told them? I doubt they were even at the hospital. I guess maybe she's good for a lawsuit now.

From the article...

Their family was concerned because it was quite cold in the area when she was released and she didn’t have much on her.

"She was discharged from the emergency room, oddly at 5 a.m. and given a bus pass and sent on her way,” her brother told the news outlet. “That was actually the last we saw of her as she was discharged as a homeless person, even more strangely, from the Northeast Baptist Emergency Room.”

They reported her missing the next day. The article doesn't say if the hospital immediately informed the family of her release as the hospital clammed up, and wouldn't talk to the press. The family also put out a reward for her safe return. She didn't even get on the bus and was found a few miles away in a creek bed. 

[Hankenhunter]

56 minutes ago, Alchopwn said:

Why weren't her family there to pick her up like normal people?

I don't think the family was informed of her release. See my post below yours.

[+Desertrat56]

It is sad but true that when hospital personnel perceive someone to be homeless they get treated with less care.   If she ended up in the ER without a family member and she had no insurance card on her or no id they would assume she was homeless.   It isn't like that on TV where some "Jane Doe" is kept for days while a police officer tries to find out who she is.   The hospitals try to get who they think are homeless out of there as quickly as posible.

@Hankenhunter is correct, if you have money and good insurance you get the treatment you need and someone will call your family.  The rest of us have to wait.

Edited December 3, 2024 by Desertrat56

[Claira]

7 hours ago, Hankenhunter said:

This seems to be happening more often. Perhaps because pay to play hospitals have a bottom line when it comes to perceived poor people. Gotta make room for the richer folk who can afford better care through insurance, and cash. It's happened in Canada too. 

There are hospitals in Canada, however, who do the right and compassionate thing with patients. I was chatting recently with a friend who's a medical resident at a hospital in downtown Toronto. She happened to mention that now that the weather is getting colder, the hospital provides donated winter clothes (coats/hats/gloves/etc.) to discharged patients who need them. If a patient has no one to pick them up and not enough money to get home on their own, they are given public transit fare, or, if they are still a bit wobbly, a taxi chit (which the hospital pays for). If a patient is homeless, they will not be let out on the street, and but will instead be taken to a local shelter. It's also my understanding that there are volunteer organizations that will send someone to give people a lift to and from hospital.

What happened to this poor woman in Texas is tragic. There's simply no excuse for it.

[+susieice]

9 hours ago, Hankenhunter said:

I don't think the family was informed of her release. See my post below yours.

I don't think the family really knew she was in the hospital. She must not have lived with them. Where were they when she had this seizure? No one called 911 or took her to the hospital? They let her walk? The hospital wouldn't have known who to call and they weren't out of line in assuming she was homeless under the circumstances. She probably didn't have insurance for her to have a card. To many questions here.

I do agree the hospital shouldn't have given her a bus pass and discharged her at 5 am. But I think the family has some fault of their own. And the article states she was released Monday morning and was reported missing on Wednesday. 

Edited December 3, 2024 by susieice

[+susieice]

@Claira I just want to let you know that I was editing my post when you reacted. I apologize. I do that a lot and probably should just make another post.

[Claira]

1 minute ago, susieice said:

@Claira I just want to let you know that I was editing my post when you reacted. I apologize. I do that a lot and probably should just make another post.

No need to apologize, I do the same.

And I agree the family does bear some responsibility, but the hospital even more so. Most hospitals will ask a patient if they have family that should be called, or if arrangements have been made for them to get picked up. If the hospital didn't know who to call, all they had to do was ask.

[+susieice]

1 minute ago, Claira said:

No need to apologize, I do the same.

And I agree the family does bear some responsibility, but the hospital even more so. Most hospitals will ask a patient if they have family that should be called, or if arrangements have been made for them to get picked up. If the hospital didn't know who to call, all they had to do was ask.

I agree the hospital didn't do right by her. The article said she had mental illness. I wonder if she was even capable of telling them. If she was having seizures when she went to the ER that would have affected her abilities also. It just seems to me the family ignored this woman until this happened. And I don't know how they figured out she was missing. I just have a lot of questions.