Medical School Files Suit Against Los Angeles County
Officials from a Los Angeles medical school on Monday filed a $125 million lawsuit against Los Angeles County related to the reduction of services at the school's former teaching hospital, Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, the Los Angeles Times reports (Los Angeles Times, 4/24).
Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science's lawsuit alleges that the county broke a contract agreement dating back to 1972 that called for the school to provide medical interns and residents to the hospital in exchange for monthly payments.
University officials in November voted to temporarily close the school's residency program while it rebuilds and finds a new affiliate teaching hospital. The school aims to re-establish its residency program by 2008. The university lost its national accreditation after King/Drew failed a federal inspection and lost Medicare funding (California Healthline, 3/8).
The lawsuit accuses county officials of mishandling operations that led to the hospital's failed inspection and downsizing. The loss of an affiliate teaching hospital left the university's 248 residents in "educational limbo," according to the suit.
A spokesperson for the county Department of Health Services declined to comment on the suit (AP/Sacramento Bee, 4/24).