LA County Approves Federal Aid to Hospital
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a CMS proposal to extend federal funding of Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital through next month, the Los Angeles Times reports. Federal funding was set to expire March 31.
The extended federal funding would preserve the hospital's accreditation through Aug. 15 and preserve 250 training slots for medical residents as the facility prepares for another federal inspection.
The $22 million extension would leave the hospital to find other sources of funding for the remaining $38 million to maintain services at the hospital.
The remaining funds are expected to come from the county's tobacco tax fund and possibly from the state, according to the Times (Rosenblatt, Los Angeles Times, 3/28).
The hospital, formerly known as King/Drew Medical Center, failed a CMS inspection conducted last summer, resulting in a loss of eligibility to participate in Medicare at a cost of about $200 million annually, about half the hospital's budget. Federal funding to the facility was scheduled to end by Nov. 30, 2006, but CMS officials granted a request by the county to extend funding through March 2007.
To help retain funding and revamp hospital services, the county downsized the facility as part of its Metrocare plan and transferred management to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center (California Healthline, 3/2).