Los Angeles ? In an unprecedented crackdown on a practice experts say is shamefully common across the country, prosecutors accused a major hospital chain Thursday of ridding itself of a homeless patient by dumping her on crime-plagued Skid Row.

A surveillance camera at a rescue mission in March recorded the demented 63-year-old woman wandering the streets in a hospital gown and slippers.

In announcing the criminal and civil charges, City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo said a Kaiser Permanente hospital put the woman in a taxi and sent her to the neighborhood even though she had serious, untreated health problems.

Kaiser’s Bellflower hospital, which discharged the woman, is among 10 Los Angeles-area hospitals under investigation on suspicion of discharging homeless patients onto the streets instead of into the custody of a relative or shelter.

The legal actions filed against Kaiser include criminal charges of false imprisonment and dependent adult endangerment, and civil claims involving the treatment of patients.