Officials at the University of Maryland Medical Center said a video depicting a woman, seemingly in distress, and wearing just a hospital gown and socks, represents a failure on their part.
The incident happened on Jan. 9 at the Emergency Department of University of Maryland Medical Center Midtown Campus and video of it spread across Facebook.
“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 (which is not depicted in the video),” Media Relations Manager Kelly Swann told The Baltimore Beat by way of an emailed statement. “We are taking this matter very seriously, conducting a thorough review, and are evaluating the appropriate response, including the possibility of personnel action.”
Baltimore-based mental health counselor Imamu Baraka posted three videos of the incident. The first shows a group of men, seemingly hospital security, walking away from the woman.
“So ya’ll are going to just leave this lady out here? With no clothes on? That is not okay.” Baraka says, following the men with his camera on.
“Due to the circumstances of what it was…” one of the men responds.
He also asks if there’s a supervisor available, and one of the men says that he is one. The men eventually disappear inside the hospital.
Baraka notes that at the time, it was about 30 degrees, and tries to speak to the woman who seems disoriented and upset.
In the second video, he is heard off camera trying to comfort the woman and trying to get her to sit down on the bench at a bus stop. The video ends when an emergency vehicle pulls up.
“Here they come,” he tells her. “They are coming for you.”