Posted on 11/15/2004 6:47:33 PM PST by NormsRevenge
LOS ANGELES (AP) - The proposed closure of a busy hospital trauma unit serving a poor, violence-plagued neighborhood drew politicians, celebrities and hundreds of protesters at a rally and public meeting Monday.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, Yolanda King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., actress Angela Bassett and Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters joined nearly 1,000 people gathered near the Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, where protesters waved signs and chanted slogans against the closure.
Afterward, the crowd jammed into a meeting where the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors took public comment.
"I know that I am on the right side of this fight," King told the board, asking it for a compromise to keep the trauma unit open at the hospital named for her father. "Health care is linked to the ethos of the civil rights movement."
The hospital and medical school were constructed after the 1965 Watts riots that ended in the deaths of 34 people and $100 million in damage. A state commission found that among the factors contributing to the community's anger was a lack of public medical facilities.
But the county's Department of Health Services has recommended closing the trauma center so the hospital could focus on numerous problems. At least one supervisor referred to Monday's hearing as a formality, saying officials had already made their decision. The earliest a formal decision could be made is Nov. 23.
The hospital has been threatened with loss of its national accreditation and $200 million in federal funding because of numerous problems. In the past three years, the county has settled four lawsuits brought by patients who had medical objects left inside them after surgery; six deaths have been blamed on poor nursing.
In addition, the medical school affiliated with the facility, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, has lost its accreditation for several physician training programs; the hospital relies on residents and interns for patient care.
Actress Angela Bassett, left, and the Rev. Jesse Jackson wait to be introduced during a rally in support of the trauma unit at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center Monday, Nov. 15, 2004, in South Los Angeles. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Monday held a state-mandated public hearing on closing the trauma unit at King/Drew Medical Center.
Let Rev Jesse fund the hospital.
Jesse not parading with a bullhorn? I'm shocked.
All the King's Horses and All the King's Men, ...
In addition, the medical school affiliated with the facility, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, has lost its accreditation for several physician training programs; the hospital relies on residents and interns for patient care.
By all means, keep it open If Jesse, and Angela, and Yolanda, etc. will have all their future medical problems treated there.
A high percentage of the patients that come to MLK are uninsured, and the hospital has trouble attracting quality medical staff. I know an R.N. who worked there for a while, and she said the place was utter chaos.
Geez... They can't rob anymore to pay for this liberal haven!!! Can't wait for all of their compassionate liberal Hollyweird friends come to the rescue :)
The media has also been echoing the message from the hospital that more money is needed to hire more nurses to keep them open, but non seem to indicate that less non paying patients would solve the problem too, many of which use these emegency centers as primary care, and are under no obligation, due to federal protection, to offer payments for the services rendered, e.g. illegal immigrants.
They threw a fit, threw a tantrum, but they didn't throw any money. Alot of that going around the nation, depriving Americans of the opportunity that the "Golden Hour", provides.
Surely Jesse and the other do-gooders could build their own hospital. After all, Carnegie built libraries all over the country. Kroc, the founder of McDonald's, started all the Ronald McDonald Houses for sick children. What great black philantropy can you point to courtesy of all the multi-millionaire singers, athletes, actors, and poverty pimps?
No, they NEVER build anything. Their job is to whine that the struggling white middle class tax payer is still not shelling out enough to support all the pathologies rampant in the 'hoods.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.