Picked up means that they are taken freely to an hospital, they give them a bed, food, they check their conditions and can sleep there a night or two. At least

Picked up means that they are taken freely to an hospital, they give them a bed, food, they check their conditions and can sleep there a night or two. At least in Italy, where my parents worked in hospitals and took care of many homeless or just troubled people. It's not like the Nazis taking prisoners to the camps...