State moves against troubled LA hospital
By JEREMIAH MARQUEZ, Associated Press Writer
29 minutes ago
State health regulators said Thursday they were moving to revoke the license of a hospital where a patient recently died on the emergency room floor while waiting for treatment.
The California Department of Health Services said in a letter to Los Angeles County officials that it was beginning the process to terminate the license for Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital.
While the public hospital could not operate without a license, the process could take many months and is subject to appeal.
The move was part of a growing chorus of government agencies targeting the facility, which has a long history of providing substandard care to inner-city patients.
Sandra Shewry, director of the state health agency, said the goal is to improve the quality of King-Harbor care, not close the facility. She said the agency's move comes as a response "to the egregious incidents that have come to light in the last six weeks."
"We hope this will be the final rallying cry where the hospital and the county will make that push to improve patient care," Shewry said.
Last month, a woman died after writhing untreated for 45 minutes on the floor of the emergency room lobby. In February, a brain tumor patient allegedly languished in the ER for four days before his family drove him to another hospital for emergency surgery.
Dr. Bruce Chernof, director the county's health agency, stressed that King-Harbor would continue to operate. "What this does not mean is that the state is pulling the license immediately and the hospital will close," Chernof said.
The federal government has threatened to pull Medicare and Medi-Cal funding, and an upcoming inspection could decide the matter. The county Board of Supervisors has also sharply criticized health officials about conditions at the hospital, and ordered them to come up with a contingency plan should it be closed.
King-Harbor was built several years after the 1965 Watts riot to bring health care to poor, minority communities in South Los Angeles.
More On Negligent L.A. Hospital
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RedGlitter
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kumininexile
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More On Negligent L.A. Hospital
I just passed through L.A. a couple of weeks ago, enroute to someplace else in the state. It's odd how you can pass right by someplace where calamity is occurring, and not know about it. I guess that's the way it is with big cities.:-5
More On Negligent L.A. Hospital
RedGlitter;643061 wrote: State moves against troubled LA hospital
By JEREMIAH MARQUEZ, Associated Press Writer
29 minutes ago
State health regulators said Thursday they were moving to revoke the license of a hospital where a patient recently died on the emergency room floor while waiting for treatment.
The California Department of Health Services said in a letter to Los Angeles County officials that it was beginning the process to terminate the license for Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital.
While the public hospital could not operate without a license, the process could take many months and is subject to appeal.
The move was part of a growing chorus of government agencies targeting the facility, which has a long history of providing substandard care to inner-city patients.
Sandra Shewry, director of the state health agency, said the goal is to improve the quality of King-Harbor care, not close the facility. She said the agency's move comes as a response "to the egregious incidents that have come to light in the last six weeks."
"We hope this will be the final rallying cry where the hospital and the county will make that push to improve patient care," Shewry said.
Last month, a woman died after writhing untreated for 45 minutes on the floor of the emergency room lobby. In February, a brain tumor patient allegedly languished in the ER for four days before his family drove him to another hospital for emergency surgery.
Dr. Bruce Chernof, director the county's health agency, stressed that King-Harbor would continue to operate. "What this does not mean is that the state is pulling the license immediately and the hospital will close," Chernof said.
The federal government has threatened to pull Medicare and Medi-Cal funding, and an upcoming inspection could decide the matter. The county Board of Supervisors has also sharply criticized health officials about conditions at the hospital, and ordered them to come up with a contingency plan should it be closed.
King-Harbor was built several years after the 1965 Watts riot to bring health care to poor, minority communities in South Los Angeles.
Too little; too late. :-1
By JEREMIAH MARQUEZ, Associated Press Writer
29 minutes ago
State health regulators said Thursday they were moving to revoke the license of a hospital where a patient recently died on the emergency room floor while waiting for treatment.
The California Department of Health Services said in a letter to Los Angeles County officials that it was beginning the process to terminate the license for Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital.
While the public hospital could not operate without a license, the process could take many months and is subject to appeal.
The move was part of a growing chorus of government agencies targeting the facility, which has a long history of providing substandard care to inner-city patients.
Sandra Shewry, director of the state health agency, said the goal is to improve the quality of King-Harbor care, not close the facility. She said the agency's move comes as a response "to the egregious incidents that have come to light in the last six weeks."
"We hope this will be the final rallying cry where the hospital and the county will make that push to improve patient care," Shewry said.
Last month, a woman died after writhing untreated for 45 minutes on the floor of the emergency room lobby. In February, a brain tumor patient allegedly languished in the ER for four days before his family drove him to another hospital for emergency surgery.
Dr. Bruce Chernof, director the county's health agency, stressed that King-Harbor would continue to operate. "What this does not mean is that the state is pulling the license immediately and the hospital will close," Chernof said.
The federal government has threatened to pull Medicare and Medi-Cal funding, and an upcoming inspection could decide the matter. The county Board of Supervisors has also sharply criticized health officials about conditions at the hospital, and ordered them to come up with a contingency plan should it be closed.
King-Harbor was built several years after the 1965 Watts riot to bring health care to poor, minority communities in South Los Angeles.
Too little; too late. :-1