KPCC News In Brief

Board of Supervisors candidates support reopening Martin Luther King Medical Center

The rivals for a rare open seat on Los Angeles County’s Board of Supervisors both support the idea of reopening Martin Luther King Medical Center. But State Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas and L.A. City Councilman Bernard Parks differ about how to make that happen. Ridley-Thomas told KPCC’s “AirTalk” that the facility should not operate strictly as a public hospital.

Mark Ridley-Thomas: “On the matter of health care, specifically as it relates to the Martin Luther King Medical Center, I believe a public/private partnership is the order of the day.”

Although Parks agreed that South L.A. County needs a reopened hospital – complete with a trauma center – he proposed a different operating model.

Bernard Parks: “We need to, as I’ve already done, work with the governor’s office and the board to bring the UC system in for immediate credibility, and to be part of the clinical and the issue of dealing with the education.”

The hospital – once affiliated with Drew University of Medicine – closed a year and a half ago after it failed several inspections. Now it operates as an urgent care facility. Its future is a key issue in the campaign for L.A. County’s second district seat that represents Compton, Watts, and surrounding areas.

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• October 29, 2008 2:13 PM
• Categories: Health, Politics/Public Affairs