Residents who live near Vancouver General Hospital said they regularly see hospital staff and security offloading patients onto benches in the street.
“They rush them to this bench, and sometimes they are left there to protect themselves with just a hospital gown,” Remi Caudron said. “Just yesterday, a gentleman was wearing a hospital blanket and it was raining.”
Caudron said this first started happening four to five years ago.
“The first thing (I noticed) was the noise, because there’s always resistance from people being taken out of the hospital, especially in this weather,” he told Global News.
“(There’s) screaming and commotion and I can hear it from my balcony.”
The resident said he saw “dozens” of patients being lowered onto benches in the street. He said he has tried contacting the city, police and social services regarding the issue.
“I’ve seen people literally get out of their wheelchairs and crawl across (the street) trying to get back to where they feel safe, like trying to get back to the hospital,” he said. Told. “It’s intense and heartbreaking.”
Caudron said he has reached out to police and other agencies and said they are “keeping an eye on it” but haven’t received much response.
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Global News attempted an interview with Vancouver Coastal Health. A spokeswoman said no one was available for an interview.
I responded via email instead.
“Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) is committed to providing safe, high-quality, compassionate care, especially to our region’s priority populations,” the email said.
“If a patient’s life is disrupted and a complete discharge plan is not possible, they may be removed from the facility. should include that we regret that this occurred, but this does not reflect VCH’s values or standards of care.
VCHG said it had “reached out to an individual to provide additional assistance if needed.” VGH is currently reviewing its incident and emergency hospital discharge planning processes to prevent similar situations from occurring in the future. ”
Global News has reached out to Vancouver Police for comment.
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