Drew University Could Lose Accreditation
Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science on Thursday announced that a national accrediting body recently notified the school that it was proposing to revoke its accreditation, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education stated in a letter that the school might lose its accreditation because its affiliate hospital -- Martin Luther King Jr./Drew University Medical Center - recently failed a federal inspection and will lose its Medicare funding.
The accrediting body said the loss of funding was a "catastrophic event" that left the school with "no primary teaching site" (Ornstein/Weber, Los Angeles Times, 10/26).
A proposal endorsed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) to reorganize King/Drew to maintain services at the hospital calls for terminating King/Drew's affiliation with Drew University.
County Department of Health Services Director Bruce Chernof said the county would like to help reassign Drew students to other county facilities (California Healthline, 10/26).
Drew can appeal the proposed revocation by Jan. 5. Drew President Susan Kelly said she hoped to arrange for other hospitals to help train the school's 251 student residents (Los Angeles Times, 10/27).