State moves to revoke King-Harbor's license

[RamboLiberal]

Source: LA Times

The state of California warned Los Angeles County officials today that it was taking steps to revoke the license of Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital, a move that would force the long-troubled public hospital to close.

The action, the boldest thus far by the state, follows recent findings by the federal government that patients at the hospital are, after years of reform efforts, in immediate jeopardy of harm or death. The state Department of Health Services has never before threatened such a penalty against King-Harbor and, has not taken such an action against a hospital since 2004.

The state's intervention dramatically increases the pressure on King-Harbor, whose turbulent history traces back almost to its inception.

The federal government has for some time dangled the threat of pulling crucial Medicare and Medi-Cal funding -- a matter that could be settled by an inspection next month. But a hospital cannot operate without a license.


Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-king22jun22,0,1072666.story?coll=la-home-center

[MsKandice01]

1. Good.

Killer King needs to be closed for good.

[Journeyman]

2. If the considered remedy is so radical, why not go a step further. . .

and rather than close the hospital and deny the people near it needed medical care, force a management change and compel the hospital into compliance with all rules and regulations? Even the chaotic disarray of such a disruptive move seems a better approach than shutting off all services.

2¢. . .

[Horse with no Name]

3. Exactly because what is NOT being said

is that this hospital serves an indigent population. It is cheaper to close it than to make it acceptable.
The other thing not being said is where will these people be served? The short answer? They won't and more deaths will occur...but won't be attributed to this.

[Journeyman]

4. Yes, that's precisely my concern with this. . .

and unfortunately, the myopic view will see "good riddance to a bad hospital," but the considered mind will know the sick won't disappear, and those with communicable diseases will be cast out among the populace, infecting ever greater numbers.

[Hekate]

5. The entire staff needs to be cleaned out.The recent death shows that.

That demonstration of cold-blooded indifference was beyond sick.

Yes, racial politics has played a part since the beginning, but in the sense that the non-white community kept making excuses for how the place was being mismanaged by the nonwhite employees.

Racial politics cuts both ways.

The LA Times has done a terrific job over the years documenting and investigating the woes at King-Drew/King-Harbor.

They need to have a board like every other major city's hospital, not the LA County Board of Supervisors. They need to have strict methods of FIRING incompetent staff, not putting "memos" in their files.

Hekate

:argh: :cry: :argh: :cry: :argh: :cry:

[Journeyman]

8. I agree. And your suggestion and mine make so much more sense. . .

than "sweeping the problem under the rug" and closing the hospital. And not only should the staff be cleaned out, their jackets should be ticketed as well and their licenses suspended, so they can't just move on to another hospital or care center, there to treat anew with the same criminal indifference.

[PSPS]

6. This is "payback" to those who dared reveal the truth. Collective punishment.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

7. Maxine Waters is going to be pissed

I feel for the good people working there, as well as those in the community whose medical treatment just got even more difficult to receive.

It's a sad, sad situation.

[Hekate]

9. Maxine Waters ought to be, starting with Yvonne Braithwaite Burke...

...who has been one of the Board of Supes making excuses.

Caveat: IIRC; if I turn out to have mischaracterized Ms. Burke too harshly, I apologize in advance. It's hard keeping up with the cast of characters in LA, but even from a hundred miles away this fiasco has stunk to high heaven -- and the excuses from political leaders in the minority community have gotten pretty stinky themselves.

I understand the emotional and political stake they have in there being a positive outcome for a hospital carrying so much symbolism in the poorest area of LA, but this mess has got to be cleaned up.

Hekate