He was in his 70’s and had lain in a hospital bed for more than three months when I first met him. Compared to my other patients, my daily visits with him were short. He could not speak English, but even without interpreter I knew his first question that had been repeated every day: “When can I go home?”It was a fair question. He was stable, after all, save for requiring dialysis three times a week. These services are routinely provided in the outpatient setting and don’t require a prolonged hospital stay. The situation was different for my patient, he was an undocumented immigrant.
