LOS ANGELES -- A lawsuit alleging a homeless paraplegic man was dumped from a Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center van onto Skid Row without his wheelchair last Feb. 8 was filed Thursday.

Gabino Olvera, 42, is alleging elder abuse and neglect, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence by hospital officials. His legal team includes lawyers from the American Civil Liberties of Southern California.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and a court order directing the hospital to comply with laws regarding the discharge of homeless patients.

According to the ACLU, hospital staff members ignored signs that Olvera was mentally ill, did not diagnose or treat his urinary tract infection and discharged him in a helpless condition.

When found on the street with a soiled medical gown, Olvera was dragging himself along the pavement, clenching his hospital papers with his teeth, according to the ACLU.

As a result several cases of alleged dumping by hospitals, and Los Angeles Councilwoman Jan Perry and City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo want to make it a misdemeanor offense for hospitals to transport patients to a location other than the patient's home without written consent. Under their proposal, violators could be hit with a $25,000 fine and three years probation.

However, an executive with the Hospital Association of Southern California, which represents 170 Southland hospitals, said the proposal is short-sighted and does not address why medical professionals make the decision to leave patients on Skid Row -- overcrowded hospitals and a lack of housing for the homeless.

The proposed ordinance is similar to a state bill vetoed last year by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Authored by Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, the bill would have barred hospitals and their staff from transporting a patient to a location other than that person's residence.

The governor said he opposed the legislation because current state and federal laws adequately address the issue.

City attorneys are using false imprisonment and elder abuse laws to prosecute hospitals that dump patients. A year ago, Delgadillo filed charges against Kaiser Permanente for allegedly dumping a woman who was wearing a hospital gown and slippers when she was left on the street.

Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center is also being investigated for allegedly dumping Olvera and another man who was still strapped to a gurney.

According to a posting on its Web site, Hollywood Presbyterian in May adopted a policy making Skid Row the "destination of last resort for discharged homeless patients" and enacted improvements in their care and transportation.