Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Approves Motion Denying Plans To Close King/Drew Medical Center
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously voted to approve a "strongly worded" motion that denied the board had any plans to close Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, the Los Angeles Times reports. The motion came in response to statements made at a rally on Friday and to flyers that hospital supporters distributed (Briscoe, Los Angeles Times, 1/28). More than 200 supporters of the hospital rallied on Friday to protest proposed budget cuts, service reductions and other changes to the hospital, including the proposed change in status for the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit. Flyers publicizing the rally said that the county is planning to close the Willowbrook hospital, which serves mostly minority and low-income patients (California Healthline, 1/26). Supervisors said statements by speakers at the rally alleging that the county was going to close the Willowbrook facility were "malicious" and "irresponsible." The motion, which was introduced by Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, said that the board reaffirmed its "intention to correct the problems at King/Drew ... with the objective of preserving the hospital and its vital role in the countywide health delivery system." However, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), who led the rally, said that the proposed service reductions at King/Drew represent a "trail to closure" (Briscoe, Los Angeles Times, 1/28).
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