Trying to Help Homeless Man

Friends of homeless man in Boone trying to find his real name so they can get help for him,

Students remember him as the kind soul who sold his hand-illustrated poems on King Street and strummed a guitar.

He seemed to disappear last month, and people thought he had died. But he's a patient at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, where he was transferred from Watauga Medical Center after collapsing behind a building in Boone.

Some people remember Joshua Watauga as mentally ill with substance-abuse problems. They say he was becoming increasingly unstable.

Officials at the medical center said that patient privacy laws mean that they can't discuss Joshua Watauga, other than to confirm he's a patient there. He was listed in good condition yesterday.

But officials could discuss the hospital's policy guidelines.

"If a patient is deemed unable to make health-care choices we make every effort to identify a family member or friend who can apply for guardianship," hospital spokeswoman Bonnie Davis said. "We would certainly help make that effort possible."

It's a complex process requiring court approval. If no suitable guardian is approved, the hospital would pursue guardianship.

Ben Alexander-Eitzman, an ASU social-work professor who is an expert on issues affecting the homeless, said that one of the most difficult situations a hospital faces at discharge is what to do with a homeless person who has chronic medical needs.

Guardianship is a complicated process involving mental, legal and ethical decisions, he said.

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Who is Joshua Watauga?