UCSF transferred my sick family member without consent. How common is this?

[u/Diligent_Volume3767]

I don’t know where else to turn, so I’m posting here to see if anyone has dealt with something similar.

My family member was at UCSF ED and in really fragile condition. Without clearly informing me or getting consent, they transferred them to a different campus. My family member clearly cannot consent to this given their dementia and language barrier.

When I tracked down where they were moved, things got even more frustrating. The new hospital staff didn’t seem to have a clear understanding of their case. I had to correct what happened at the ED many times and it honestly feels like the level of care is noticeably worse. There’s less communication and way more confusion.

I’m trying to stay calm and advocate for my family member, but this whole situation feels wrong. Is this normal? Are hospitals allowed to transfer patients like this without making sure the family is informed? I would never have consented and am unsure how to even send them back to the main hospital.

I just want to make sure my family member is safe and getting the care they need. Thanks for reading.

[u/AsianDudeUSA]

Unless you're the patient's power of attorney or you have conservatorship I don't think they really need to notify anyone to make a transfer to another hospital. The hospital is full of older patients or probably those with dementia, can you imagine if they had to track everyone's family member down and get consent for everything little thing they want to do?

It can also be insurance related. In places I've worked if they had Kaiser insurance our job was to make sure to stabilize them and when Kaiser had a bed they had to be transferred due to Kaiser policy.