BILL ANALYSIS
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THIRD READING
Bill No: ACR 2
Author: Hall (D)
Amended: As introduced
Vote: 21
SENATE HEALTH COMMITTEE : 9-0, 6/17/09
AYES: Alquist, Strickland, Aanestad, Cox, DeSaulnier,
Leno, Maldonado, Pavley, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cedillo, Negrete McLeod
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 73-0, 5/14/09 (Consent) - See last page
for vote
SUBJECT : Management of Martin Luther King, Jr. Hospital
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This resolution urges the University of
California to expedite negotiations with the Los Angeles
County Board of Supervisors and Charles Drew University of
Medicine and Science regarding future management of Martin
Luther King, Jr. Harbor Hospital.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Authorizes the board of supervisors in each county to
establish, maintain, and operate a county hospital.
CONTINUED
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2. 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.
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 resolution makes various findings related to the need
for the Los Angeles County, Charles Drew University (Drew
University) and the University of California to jointly
operate the Martin Luther King, Jr. (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.
Background
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 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 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
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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.
FISCAL EFFECT : Fiscal Com.: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/29/09)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees
Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science
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
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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.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill Berryhill,
Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield, Brownley,
Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro,
Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, DeVore,
Duvall, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong,
Fuller, Furutani, Galgiani, Gilmore, Hagman, Hall,
Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman,
Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Krekorian, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie
Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande,
Niello, Nielsen, John A. Perez, V. Manuel Perez,
Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas, Silva, Skinner,
Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres,
Torrico, Tran, Villines, Yamada
NO VOTE RECORDED: Ammiano, Fuentes, Gaines, Garrick,
Saldana, Smyth, Bass
CTW:do 6/29/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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