Two suburban psychiatric hospitals sent more than 150 patients to fend for themselves on skid row over a two-year period, according to prosecutors who announced today the largest settlement yet in L.A.’s campaign against patient dumping.

City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo said his office reached the agreement with College Hospital, which runs psychiatric hospitals in Costa Mesa and Cerritos, and which allegedly dumped the patients during 2007 and 2008. Delgadillo said that the hospital would pay $1.6 million in penalties and charitable contributions to a host of psychiatric and other social service agencies.

It also agreed to establish new protocols for discharging homeless patients with mental disorders and would agree to respect a “no-go zone” similar to a gang injunction, which prohibits gang members from operating in a specific geographical area.

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