An unidentified elderly Black man was found on a sidewalk in Conyers, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta, with medical tubes still attached after being discharged from a hospital nearby because Medicare would not continue coverage for his treatment.
The 68-year-old man was discovered collapsed near the Piedmont Rockdale Hospital on Thursday, Oct. 14. According to a 911 caller, he appeared unresponsive and in need of medical assistance.
“Poor guy. But he probably needs an ambulance and not…” the 911 caller said, according to WSB-TV. “It’s right in front of the Piedmont Rockdale Emergency entrance.”
Conyers Police Deputy Chief Scott Freeman told reporters that, according to a hospital employee, the man was in the hospital’s care for 35 days for unidentified treatment and was cleared as “fit to leave” by two doctors when the hospital was notified that Medicare would not continue paying for his care.
He was dressed by security, who then escorted him off the premises.
When medical responders arrived to treat the man after the 911 call, he was found to have “sepsis, a high heart rate, fever, a urinary tract infection, and a possible bladder infection.”
