Relatives refuse to accept discharged elderly patients in Lionel Town

Ryon Jones, Staff Reporter

An ambulance operator was forced to seek the help of the Lionel Town police in Clarendon this morning after the relatives of three elderly patients refused to accept them.

The patients were discharged from the Lionel Town Hospital as the facility seeks to reduce the population in preparation for Hurricane Sandy.

A small gathering of residents in front of the police station was insistent that the elderly people should not have been discharged.

While they expressed their displeasure, the three senior citizens sat in a daze in the ambulance.

"They are very elderly, so taking them to a shelter is out of the question," said councillor for the Race Course Division, Pauline Reynolds.

"They will have to go back to the hospital; that's the only thing to do," she said.

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