My father was a patient at a private hospital. He died. We went in to discuss the arrangements for the body. At about that time, my godfather called the hospital to see how my father was, and was told that he was “No longer a patient.” Were we trespassing when we used the restroom?
Not disputing that this is true where you are, but it has not been true anywhere I’ve been a patient, visitor, or staff. Similarly, I’ve seen some ground floor cafeterias, but none in basements.
Poor choice of words on my part. I didn’t mean an actual cellar or basement, rather simply the lower level (usually marked “LL” on elevator buttons). I’ve never seen a hospital yet that didn’t have at least one “LL”, which usually turns out to be a warren of corridors that seem to go on and on, and often do, since they may connect separate wings or buildings. (This makes it easier for visitors to get lost and wander around.) And for some reason, every hospital cafeteria I’ve seen has been one floor below the main level. I have no idea why that is, though it does seem to gibe with my general expectation that cafeterias don’t have windows.
BTW…aren’t the kitchens usually on this level as well?
Ever been to a city hospital? I know of a few that you can’t get past the lobby area unless you show photo ID (for which I think you have to state where you’re going - patient room or appointment with an employee) & go thru a metal detector.
You are joking right?
Little Rock is a big Metro area, with half a million. I’ve been in three of the major hospitals and never encountered anything like that.
I do see security. I’ve never interacted with any of them.
My old hospital had a basement cafeteria.
Badges would most likely be necessary in OB, or another potentially sensitive unit like inpatient psychiatry.
You are joking, right?
Half a million people is a big Metro area? I don’t consider a metro area to be big until it hits at least 3 million people. 1 million for a moderately sized metropolitan community, minimum.
That part of Atlanta has an enormous problem with homeless people - panhandling, shoplifting, drug-dealing, harassing others. Every establishment guards their bathrooms because paying customers are entitled to use the facilities without harassment.
That area of town also has numerous homeless shelters and aid centers located in a dense area around the hospital. There’s no cause to expect private establishments to open their doors to non-customers.
I was thinking the same thing. There’s got to be more to the story. And the very likely “…and now you know…the rest of the story…” is that she wasn’t white.
It’s not a badge, per se, but right now I’m wearing a wrist band that Security issued to me this afternoon, to allow me access to the cardiac care unit so I can visit kaylasmom (I’m still wearing it so the guard will wave me through on my next visit).
And the hospital has its visitors cafeteria on a floor below street level. The elevator buttons for reaching that floor are marked “B.”
I’ve been in a lot of hospitals. The first ID tags I saw were only about 5 years ago. I was working in many of them and had access to secure areas via digital codes and occasionally had to sign in. I’m surprised how easily it is to get access to any area of most hospitals, visiting a friend in the hospital recently there was no security at all, no one at a check in area, no security personnel that I saw, an seemingly no restrictions on access to any area though I assume some doors were locked. There are legitimate security concerns at hospitals and even though I may have been to at least 50 different hospitals that certainly doesn’t cover the country and the variety of security measures that may be in place. I think it’s it a good idea to require more security, mainly not allowing entry at all without checking in near the entrance. None of that excuses the alleged behavior of this hospital.
Profiling by appearance anyway, even not exclusively racial, which does not mean that race did play a factor.
Let’s give some possible background (which in no way is presented as an excuse for the security guard’s behavior or any possible hospital policy regarding use of their restrooms by any of the public).
- In many urban centers public restrooms, including hospital bathrooms, are used by street addicts as places to shoot up.
- There is a homeless shelter (the Peachtree-Pine homeless shelter) apparently across the street from the hospital and the hospital and the shelter have a history of not playing well together.
(Bolding mine.)
With that as background it is easy to imagine that security may be wanting to keep the homeless who frequent the shelter from using their facilities, inclusive of not wanting their bathrooms being used as places to shoot up, with needles possibly left behind, telling those who do try to use their bathrooms that they are trespassing on private property.
It is also possible that the story of “my family member was here … must’ve been discharged …” is something that the security guard has heard many times a day.
And it is possible, perhaps probable, that the security guard assessed this woman as one of that population, profiling by appearance (perhaps impacted by racial appearance, but likely not exclusively so).
And yes many hospitals have visitors check in and wear a guest badge, but not all do, and most newer hospitals have security badges for staff that open doors to areas they have justifiable access to (and not others) - although of course someone who looks like they belong (a stethoscope draped around the neck is enough) can drift in easily, even getting others holding the door for them out of manners. Older hospitals often have cafeterias on a lower level.
(Forgot a “not”: “Profiling by appearance anyway, even not exclusively racial, which does not mean that race did not play a factor.”)
I wasn’t aware things had gotten this bad.
Another new low for our declining society.
At least now I’ll understand the reasoning if Little Rock’s Med Center (UAMS) begins these policies. It’s in a rough part of the city. Not as bad as Atlanta. But I wouldn’t walk through those neighborhoods even during the day. Except for the streets directly next to the Med Center. Medical Students and Interns rent those houses.
Keep in mind that the US is safer now than at any other time in history.
http://nextstageprep.com/despite-media-hysteria-violent-crime-is-at-record-lows/
Homeless, even heroin injecting homeless ≠ violent. You may not want them in your properties’ bathrooms, they may make others uncomfortable, but really they are not so fearsome.
Violence is down, even overall homelessness rates have been dropping, it’s even down within Atlanta (“since 2011, there has been a 60% decrease in unsheltered homelessness in Atlanta”), but it can be concentrated.
Yeah, it’s not exactly Mad Max down there. I have no problem walking the area as late as 8PM. But it’s not great when you try to use a restroom and someone’s sleeping or smoking crack in there, and they leave 5 days worth of stink behind them. And I never, never go into the library down there… a big smelly loitering hotspot.
I used to work with a ARNP who got her degree at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, and at the time, the area around the hospital was the most dangerous one in town, because there was a gang whose initiates had to kill someone - and doctors and nurses leaving the hospital in uniform were their favorite targets. :eek: :mad: Several employees died this way while she was there.
And she got her degree in 1972. :eek:
As for “there’s more to the story”, yes, part of it was that she was nonwhite (i.e. black) and I guessed that from the outset; however, I also suspected that she started acting belligerent or otherwise disruptive and the guard took action, whether her pregnancy was obvious or not.
Yeah heroin addicts basically just sleep. All the time.
I doubt she did anything to deserve that treatment except to be black in an place that gets frequented by a mostly black homeless population. I used to live in that area and I can tell you it’s a difficult situation. I got in the habit of ignoring every single person who said “excuse me sir” because it was almost always a pitch for spare change. Did I profile people unfairly? Probably, and I feel bad about it, but I don’t have the time or energy to sort out one legit person from 20 scammers.
I’m sure the guard absolutely could have done a better job, race was probably involved, and there may have been some miscommunication. But I can also definitely understand how a person can get desensitized to the endless stream of contrived hard-luck stories.