
In March of 2018, AHA hosted a community conversation to learn more about the issue of seniors being stranded in hospital emergency departments, because a safe, appropriate discharge for them is not available. We have learned from research literature that this is sometimes called “granny dumping,” and is a problem being faced by hospitals across the US and Colorado.
It is more likely to happen with seniors – usually vulnerable seniors with dementia or brain injury. The patients arrive at the emergency room from a nursing facility, an ambulance or police car, or are left by a family member or friend. According to interviews with staff from Aurora’s hospitals, almost every week they experience a senior in this situation.
Nowhere to Go Meeting Library
Meeting Report
Resources
- Article: Granny Dumping, 1992, by Jane Reister Conard, Yale Law & Policy Review, Vol. 10, No. 2, America’s Health Care: Which Road to Reform? (1992), pp. 463-487.
- About Adult Protective Svcs, CDHS
- Article: Elder Abandonment
- NY Times Article: Nursing Home Evictions
- 2040 Health Summit presentation: Senior Mental Health, by Emma Williams, PsyD
- Patient Dumping: The Cobra That Never Struck,” by Henna K. Pithia. Review of Law and Social Justice, Vol. 24:1, p. 109.
- “The Elderly and Health Care Rationing,” by George P. Smith, II. Pierce Law Review, Vol. 7, No. 2, p. 171.
- “Moses V. Providence Hospital: The Sixth Circuit Dumps the Federal Regulations of the Patient Anti-Dumping Statute,” by Adam Malizio. The Journal of Contemporary Health Law and Policy, Vol. XXVII, p.213.
- “Colorado Aging Framework: A Guide for Policymakers, Providers, and Others for Aging Well in Colorado,” 2015, by Colorado Department of Human Services and Colorado Commission on Aging.
- Side-by-Side Comparison: Aurora Commission on Seniors and AHA Senior Circle.
- “2015 Healthy Aging Plan” by Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE).
- “Baby Boomers and 65+: The Impact of the Demographic Shift” May 2015, by Bob Semro, Policy Analyst, The Bell Policy center.