And Still I Rise

A debate is heating up the airwaves re homeless people who are kept in the General hospital as wards of the state. Apparently, there is a situation where people take their aged parents, predominantly men to the institution and then abandon them. From my understanding it seems too that when known street people are admitted to the hospital they remain longer than is necessary.

According to a Health authority the persons remain on the ward until a space becomes available in the home for the aged and indigent. I often wonder about the circumstances that would lead to persons in the twilight of their years being without a home. Am sure it's not as simple as squandering everything in their youth. For all I know these persons probably spent all their earnings raising their children only to be neglected in their time of need. On the other hand many draw a relation to the fact that many children were abandoned by fathers hence the high prevalance of abandoned men to women.

Whatever the case is the matter is a serious one. Hospitals, for the obvious reasons are not meant to cater for the sick not the indigent. For humanitarian reasons the Hospital administration may decide to be caregivers but what happens when there is a need for the beds occupied by the indigent? Won't they then be sent back to the streets? If nothing the whole situation is screaming out for us to take another look at our social services and the measures we have in place to care for the helpless.