BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1303
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1303 (Hall)
As Amended June 1, 2009
Majority vote
HEALTH 17-0 APPROPRIATIONS 13-4
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|Ayes:|Jones, Fletcher, Adams, |Ayes:|De Leon, Ammiano, |
| |Ammiano, Block, Carter, | |Charles Calderon, Davis, |
| |Conway, De Leon, | |Fuentes, Hall, John A. |
| |Emmerson, Hall, Hayashi, | |Perez, Price, Skinner, |
| |Hernandez, Bonnie | |Solorio, Audra |
| |Lowenthal, Nava, V. | |Strickland, Torlakson, |
| |Manuel Perez, Salas, | |Krekorian |
| |Audra Strickland | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | |Nays:|Nielsen, Duvall, Harkey, |
| | | |Miller |
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SUMMARY : Directs the Department of Public Health (DPH) to
convene a working group of stakeholders to assist in the
reopening of Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) Hospital in Los
Angeles. Specifically, this bill :
1)Specifies that the working group include, but not be limited
to: representatives of DPH, the Los Angeles Board of
Supervisors, the Regents of the University of California (UC)
and other parties deemed necessary to facilitate the reopening
plan.
2)Directs the working group to review and examine issues
relating to the MLK Hospital reopening including:
clarification of the respective roles of Los Angeles County
(County) and the Regents; selection of a suitable nonprofit
entity to manage the hospital; secure appropriate funding;
and, develop an MLK Hospital teaching component.
3)Requires the working group to prepare a report of its findings
and recommendations and specifies that no General Funds be
expended to support the working group.
FISCAL EFFECT : The Assembly Appropriations Committee analysis
found no costs associated with this bill.
AB 1303
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COMMENTS : According to the author, a stakeholder board as
proposed in this bill may provide valuable assistance and
support for the re-establishment of MLK Hospital. The tentative
agreement recently announced by UC and County, notes the author,
has yet to be fully developed, and an additional venue for
discussion might help resolve the complex arrangements remaining
before reopening this critical facility.
The County and the UC recently announced they have made
considerable progress on a tentative agreement which could lead
to the reopening of MLK Hospital in the Willowbrook/Watts area
of Los Angeles. For over 35 years, according to the author, MLK
Hospital provided trauma, surgery, emergency, and obstetric care
to the 1.6 million residents of South Central Los Angeles. The
hospital served as one of the largest public and teaching
hospitals in the state, providing both critical medical care and
physician training programs through the Charles Drew University
of Medicine. Inpatient services at the hospital however, as
reported in the Los Angeles Times (Times), were shut down in
August of 2007 after years of high profile cases of inadequate
care, including errors causing multiple deaths. For almost two
years, again according to the Times, the community of South
Central Los Angeles has been without a Tier I Trauma center
which has required trauma patients to be transported long
distances. The Times further notes that the South Central
community is severely medically underserved. South Central has
one hospital bed per 1,000 residents while the national average
is three beds per 1,000 residents.
UC reports that the County and UC have agreed the re-opened
hospital will: 1) serve as a safety net hospital treating a
high volume of Medi-Cal and uninsured patients; 2) integrate
hospital inpatient services with the County's existing network
of clinics; and, 3) optimize both public and private funding
resources. As described by UC, the new facility will have only
about one half the beds (120) of the former hospital (233) but
would provide emergency services. The hospital will be operated
by an independent private non-profit organization which will
hold the hospital license and manage day to day operations. UC
has stated that it expects to enter a contractual agreement with
the non-profit operator to provide medical quality assurance and
physician services. The reorganized hospital is expected to
open in 2012 using only a portion of the existing campus. The
AB 1303
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non-profit operator, according to the Times, has not yet been
selected.
Analysis Prepared by : John D. Miller / HEALTH / (916)
319-2097
FN: 0001273