'Patient Dumping:' Viral Video Appears To Show Baltimore Hospital Putting Woman Outside In Cold Weather

Video of a woman in a wheelchair being “dumped” outside a Baltimore hospital has gone viral, bringing renewed focus on how hospitals treat some of their patients who are homeless or can’t afford health care.

Imamu Baraka captured the incident on video Tuesday night after witnessing hospital security guards wheel a woman in a hospital gown to the bus stop in freezing weather.

“So, y’all are just gonna leave this lady out here with no clothes on? That is not okay,” Baraka is heard saying to the officials. He added: “They just left all of her stuff out here. This is disgusting that they would just leave her unattended on a bus stop half naked. It’s gotta be at least 40 degrees or colder.”

Though it is not clear the circumstances behind the woman’s case, University of Maryland Medical Center is being accused of “patient dumping.” According to CBS News, this is when hospitals throw patients out who are uninsured or have financial issues.

Baraka ended up calling the police, and an ambulance took the woman back to the hospital.

Saying they were shocked and disappointed, hospital officials released the following statement:

“This unfortunate event is not representative of our patient-centered mission,” the statement read. “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.”