University of Maryland Hospital Under Fire for Discharging Patient in Hospital Gown During Freezing

As if the world wasn't cold enough, a woman in Maryland found herself removed from the University of Maryland Medical Center wearing nothing but a hospital gown and socks late Tuesday night.

The unidentified woman was visibly sick, coughing, barely coherent with a large swollen knot to her forehead. The incident was caught on film by, Imamu Baraka, a passerby who saw hospital security usher the woman to the bus top and walk away. She had no belongings to identify her, no wallet to carry bus fare and it was a bone chilling 30 degrees!

Baraka said that he stopped videotaping at some point to call 911 and an ambulance crew came and took the woman back into the hospital. He said he waited for two hours to make sure they didn’t bring her back out to the bus stop. He said he heard her say “thank you” as she was led away.

Watch the video below.

Baraka has since spoken with the woman’s mother, who contacted him after seeing the video. During the three-hour discussion, she told him her daughter was 22 years old. The woman is now safe with family and being well taken care of, he said.

The family told Baraka that the hospital had put the woman in a cab to a homeless shelter and that was where the mother found her. He declined to describe her mental or medical conditions or why her family didn’t know where she was.

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."

This is just all around sad!