Los Angeles News

LOS ANGELES (CBS) ― Harbor-UCLA Medical Center will take over management of Martin Luther King Jr.-Drew Medical Center under a plan approved Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors to keep the hospital operating as a public facility.

The board unanimously approved the plan for the embattled hospital after about two and a half hours of discussion and public comment from lawmakers and health officials.

Los Angeles County health director Dr. Bruce Chernof presented a report to the board outlining the possibilities for King-Drew's future following its failure to pass a make-or-break inspection.

The failure is expected to result in the loss of about $200 million a year in federal funding.

The options included placing the hospital under the license of another county facility, selling it to a private operator or appealing the decision by the federal inspectors who judged that, after numerous warnings, King-Drew remained lacking in nine of 23 critical areas pertaining to patient care.

Chernof recommended King-Drew align itself with Harbor-UCLA. That means Harbor-UCLA will be responsible for the oversight of King-Drew's medical staff and management.

Under the proposal, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center will have full inpatient and outpatient specialty services and a trauma center, while King-Drew will become Harbor-MLK Community Hospital and have a basic emergency room and provide core inpatient services.

A specialized Ambulatory Care Center will also be created to expand King-Drew's outpatient clinics and add outpatient surgery and extended-hour urgent care.

Long Beach and Hubert Humphrey health care centers will also be incorporated into the system.

"Harbor-UCLA Medical Center ... is a county facility first and foremost. We are blessed to have a relationship with UCLA. They're a fine university. Part of what drives the quality of care in our other hospitals is that academic relationship," Chernof said.

The proposal calls for Los Angeles County to end its affiliation with Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science. The county's contract with the school ends in June and will likely not be renewed, Chief Administrative Officer David Janssen said.

"We've now had our lifeline cut and our capacity to do business at all, for a transitional period, is finished on Nov. 30 if that is the date it all comes apart," said Drew University president Susan Kelly. "We have been planning for a worst-case scenario. We'd be idiots if we hadn't."

"Frankly, the implications of this are deeper than we imagined, but we will work through it with your help," Kelly said.

The plan also requires King-Drew employees to reapply for their jobs. Under civil service rules, those who are not hired back would be dispersed to jobs throughout Los Angeles County government.

"Each person will be evaluated. There have been a lot of issues on our end of it as well, where we have not managed people as effectively," Supervisor Gloria Molina said.

"With better management, they can be successful. And if they can't, they'll be booted from there," Molina said.

A public hearing must be held to begin the legal process to reduce services at the existing hospital. Pediatrics, neonatology and high-risk obstetric services will be moved to Harbor-UCLA.

Community activists Monday delivered thousands of signed petitions to Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke's office, demanding King-Drew Medical Center remain a public hospital.

(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)