BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE HEALTH
COMMITTEE ANALYSIS
Senator Elaine K. Alquist, Chair
BILL NO: ACR 2
A
AUTHOR: Hall
C
AMENDED: As Introduced
R
HEARING DATE: June 17, 2009
CONSULTANT:
2
Dunstan/cjt
SUBJECT
Management of Martin Luther King, Jr. Hospital
SUMMARY
Urges the University of California to expedite negotiations
with the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and
Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science (Drew
University) regarding future management of MLK-Harbor
Hospital.
CHANGES TO EXISTING LAW
Existing law:
Authorizes the board of supervisors in each county to
establish, maintain, and operate a county hospital.
Existing law also authorizes the board of supervisors of
any county to transfer the maintenance, operation, and
management or ownership of the county hospital to the
University of California, or to any other public agency or
community, non-profit corporation empowered to operate a
hospital facility, upon a finding that the community
services provided by the hospital could more efficiently,
effectively or economically be done by the transferee than
the county.
Continued---
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ACR 2 (Hall)
Page 2
The California Constitution provides for the University of
California as a public trust under the governance of the
Board of Regents, subject to limited legislative control
and direction.
This bill:
Makes various findings related to the need for the Los
Angeles County, Drew University and the University of
California to jointly operate MLK-Harbor Hospital and urges
the University of California to expedite negotiations with
the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and Drew
University regarding the future management of MLK-Harbor
Hospital.
FISCAL IMPACT
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee analysis
there will be absorbable costs for the University of
California to continue its ongoing discussions with Drew
University and other parties.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
According to the author, when MLK-Harbor closed, the 1.7
million residents of Service Planning Area 6 of Los Angeles
County were left without a public hospital in their area.
The author believes that the University of California
should administer MLK-Harbor because of its success in
administering public hospitals and the need for medical
doctors and other health professionals to be trained and
work locally.
Background-MLK Harbor
MLK-Harbor is located on South Wilmington Avenue in Los
Angeles in an area known as Willowbrook. The hospital and
the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science
(Drew University) were created in the aftermath of the 1965
Watts riots in which 32 people died and 1,000 people were
injured. In December 1965, the McCone Commission,
established in the wake of the riots, issued a report
citing the lack of adequate health care facilities as a
contributing factor to the civil unrest. This prompted
city and state officials to put in motion plans to build a
medical school and teaching hospital in the Watts
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ACR 2 (Hall)
Page 3
community.
On March 27, 1972, the hospital opened its doors to the
community as a full-service medical center. The hospital
expanded in 1998, by opening a state-of-the-art Trauma and
Diagnostic Center that is dedicated to treating patients
who have sustained accidental and intentional trauma
injuries. At its peak, the hospital had a licensed bed
capacity of 537 beds and through it's partnership with Drew
University, had become a teaching hospital.
The hospital began to face significant difficulties,
culminating in the 2007 vote by the Los Angeles County
Board of Supervisors to close MLK-Harbor because of the
difficulties facing the hospital, including losing its
funding or the possibility of losing its license over
allegations of substandard care. Since the closure of
MLK-Harbor in August 2007, the County has been working on
developing options to provide hospital services at that
site. In the spring of 2008, at the direction of the Board
of Supervisors, the county approached the University of
California to assist in this effort.
Representatives from the University, Los Angeles County and
the Schwarzenegger Administration have been discussing an
arrangement that would allow MLK-Harbor to reopen as a
viable health care facility. According to an informational
item presented to the Board of Regents at its March 2009
meeting, a new non-profit entity would be established to
operate the re-opened hospital with a 120-bed capacity and
an emergency room. The University of California would
enter into a contractual agreement with the non-profit
entity to establish standards pertaining to quality
assurance and the provision of physician services. All
parties to the negotiations have agreed that the University
of California will not provide start-up or ongoing
financial support for the hospital.
Previous legislation
ACR 159 (Dymally) of 2008 was identical to ACR 2. This
resolution was never set for hearing.
AB 1749 (Dymally) of 2007 would have allowed the Department
of Public Health to appoint a temporary manager an acute
care hospital in underserved communities. AB 1749 was
changed to a different subject.
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ACR 2 (Hall)
Page 4
AB 55 (Dymally) of 2008 would have authorized the Los
Angeles County Board of Supervisors to establish the Los
Angeles County Hospital Authority to operate Martin Luther
King, Jr. Harbor Medical Center, specifies the appointments
to the authority's governing board of various entities, and
provides the authority with specified powers and duties.
AB 55 was changed to a different subject.
AB 166 (Ridley-Thomas) of 2005, as introduced would have
given the Board of Supervisors the authority to establish a
health authority separate and apart from the county as a
means for the delivery of medical care and services to the
Medi-Cal population and to other populations receiving
health care services from the County of Los Angeles. This
bill was held in Assembly Rules Committee.
AB 201 (Dymally) of 2005, as introduced, was substantially
similar to AB 166. AB 166 was subsequently amended to a
different subject.
Arguments in support
The Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science argues
that the closure of MLK hospital not only left the 1.7
million uninsured and underinsured residents of South Los
Angeles without access to hospital or medical care, but
also exacerbated a major existing health care crisis in the
county by straining capacities at other county hospitals.
They argue that there are immediate and obvious steps that
can be taken to address this issue, one of these being
expediting negotiations between the University of
California, the Board of Supervisors of Los Angeles County
and the Charles Drew University for the purpose of
discussing the future management of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Hospital.
PRIOR ACTIONS
Assembly Floor: 73-0
Assembly Appropriations:16-0
Assembly Higher Education:9-0
COMMENTS
1. The resolution urges the University of California to
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ACR 2 (Hall)
Page 5
expedite negotiations.
The opening of MLK-Harbor will require agreement of two
other parties, Charles Drew University and the County of
Los Angeles. It is not clear why the resolution singles
out the University of California.
POSITIONS
Support: American Federation of State, County and
Municipal Employees
Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science
Oppose: None received
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