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iivjfii IV) ivhWEATHER, 8BSUNDAY /April 13, 2003$1.25www.newsherald.comIndigent health care: U.S. crisis hits homeBy Tom QuimbyNews Herald Writer747-5071 / tquimby@pcnh.comInsideHe was found passed out inside the chapel of the Panama City Rescue Mission with a hagfull of prescription drugs in his hand.She wasdropped off down thestreet from the mission, didn't know where_ she was andhad no idea how to take her medication.Another man showed up with his prescription drugs and became so unruly, the missionBay Medical spends millions each year onindigents’ health care.See Page 6A“They’ve got no problem dropping off their patients here, but they can’t tell us about the medication they’ve been on or what’s wrong with them.’’— Reuben Corbitt, Panama City Rescue Missioncouldn’t let him stay. He eventually was kicked out for smoking crack cocaine.Rescue Mission staff say those three are among about a dozen indigent patients discharged from Bay Medical Center and Life Management Center to the Allen Avenuemission over the past five months. The released patients have various physical and mental conditions that the mission says it is not equipped or trained to handle.It's a problem, say the hospital and mental health center, that is showing up nationwide.And it's a problem that led the Rescue Mission to filing a complaint with the National Alliance for the Mentally 111, a grass-roots advocacy group.Reuben Corbitt, the mission's individual assistance liaison, said the mission filed the complaint after Bay Behavorial, owned by Bay Medical Center, and Life Management Center did not return repeated phone calls about patients they discharged to the mission.Corbitt said he also was told that medical information about the patients could not be shared because of patient confidentiality.“They've got no problem dropping off their patients here, but they can't tell us about the medication they’ve been on or what's wrong with them, Corbitt said.Bay Medical and the Life Management Center say patients discharged to the mission have been stable. They also say health care for indigents is a national problem, funding and bed space for the mentally ill have been on the decline since the 1960s, and as a result, moreDana Mixer / The News HeraldSee MISSION, page 6AReuben Corbitt, right, says clients like Rufus Cargile — not mentally ill patients — are the Rescue Mission’s focus.
Newspaper Details
Panama City News Herald
Panama City, Florida, US
Sun, Apr 13, 2003
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Chastity W.
AL, USA 21 Mar 2022
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