by Phillip Viramontes
Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2004 at 8:23 PM
pviramoi@yahoo.com
King/Drew closure contradicting Thomas L. Garthwaite, M.D.Director and Chief Medical Officer recommendation from 2002
This is from the analysis from Dr. Garthwaite on October 2, 2002 "TO: Each Supervisor" the remommendations of course are not being followed although they have all the information to make an informed decision regarding closure of King/Drew. The full PDF is available at the web address listed above.
"King/Drew and Harbor-UCLA have several private GAC hospitals located within five miles of each facility. Five private general acute care (GAC) hospitals are located within a five-mile radius around King/Drew, with a total of 892 licensed beds and three emergency departments. Only one of these hospitals has non-profit designation, although all three receive DSH funds.King/Drew and Harbor-UCLA have several private GAC hospitals located within five miles of each facility. Five private GAC hospitals are located within a five-mile radius around King/Drew, with a total of 892 licensed beds and three emergency departments. Only one of these hospitals has non-profit designation, although all three receive DSH funds.Based on the analysis outlined above, King/Drew is the next most essential hospital in the
system.
The extremely high rates of poverty and lack of insurance among the population in this area make a compelling argument to preserve King/Drew as a hospital with an emergency and trauma services.
It is our fervent hope that adequate funding will be obtained to also retain Harbor-UCLA as
a hospital with emergency and trauma services. However, its proximity to King/Drew,
combined with the greater need in other areas, argue for its conversion to an ambulatory
care facility if one of the DHS medical centers must be re-missioned due to lack of funding."
www.dhs.co.la.ca.us/wwwfiles/dhs/media/media/breport10022...