County Hires Executives To Supervise King/Drew Transition
Los Angeles County health officials on Thursday hired two executives to manage the downsizing of services at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew University Medical Center and the transfer of management to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, the Los Angeles Times reports (Rosenblatt, Los Angeles Times, 11/10).
The county's Board of Supervisors on Monday unanimously approved the Metrocare plan, designed to maintain services at King/Drew by reducing its service offerings and transferring administration to Harbor-UCLA. The county also voted to rename the hospital Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital.
King/Drew failed a CMS inspection conducted over the summer, resulting in a loss of eligibility to participate in Medicare at a cost of about $200 million annually, about half the center's budget.
Federal funding was scheduled to end by Nov. 30, but CMS officials last week granted a request by the county to extend funding through March 2007, when the county said the transition would be complete (California Healthline, 11/7).
Tecla Mickoseff, director of Harbor-UCLA, will serve as interim head of the integrated hospitals. She will remain in her current role at Harbor-UCLA.
Atoinette Smith Epps, CEO of King/Drew, will oversee the hospital's downsizing and transition. After the merger is complete, Smith Epps will remain director of the new facility.
County health officials will conduct a national search for a permanent head of the new hospital (Los Angeles Times, 11/10).