The state of California moved to revoke King-Harbor Medical Center’s license to operate, raising concerns over how its closure could create an influx of patients and medical students to UCLA facilities across Los Angeles.
King-Harbor, which was formerly called King-Drew until it merged with Harbor-UCLA Medical Center last fall, has faced problems for the last several years, said Gerald Levey, vice chancellor of UCLA’s medical sciences and dean of the David Geffen School of Medicine.
“Everyone is well-aware of the many issues that have been raised about the quality of care at King-Drew Medical Center, including the loss of its ability to sustain a graduate medical program,” Levey said.
King-Drew has been out of compliance with federal guidelines regarding minimum patient-care standards since January 2004, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Federal authorities threatened to close the hospital, but it was instead placed under the management of the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and renamed King-Harbor Medical Center, the newspaper reported.
In May, King-Harbor encountered controversy with the death of patient Edith Isabel Rodriguez, who bled to death on the emergency room floor after being ignored for 45 minutes by hospital staff. Second-year psychobiology student Jason Ngo said Harbor-UCLA should be applauded for stepping in to help King-Drew last year.
“If Harbor-UCLA fails to fix the problems, it would be a black mark on the part of hospital administration, but not on the quality of UCLA’s health care,” Ngo said.
Levey said there is a threat of the hospital being closed due to the findings of state and federal inspectors revealing substandard patient care over the past several months, including the well-publicized event of Rodriguez’s death.
The California Department of Health Services moved to revoke the license of King-Harbor in late June but will consider reversing the closure if the hospital meets state and federal standards at a later inspection date, the Los Angeles Times reported.
King-Harbor is challenging the state’s decision and can remain open until the matter is decided.
“If the hospital closed, it would be a terrible blow to the people of (South Los Angeles), and the ramifications of the closure would be felt throughout Los Angeles County,” Levey said.
He added that the UCLA Medical Center in Westwood would not be affected as much as other facilities close by, but there would still be an increased flow of patients to neighboring facilities like the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. Levey said the more direct effect on UCLA would come from the loss of King-Harbor’s medical training program, the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science.
“UCLA medical students who want to practice in inner-city areas train for two years at (King-Harbor), and there’s no way the students can learn with the troubles that have beset the hospital,” he said.
He added that for the past year, Drew medical students have been primarily training at Harbor-UCLA because of the troubles at King-Harbor.
UCLA Health Sciences spokeswoman Roxanne Moster said that despite the situation at King-Harbor, UCLA will continue to work to find cures for diseases and specialized medical treatment.
She said UCLA has been recognized for its work, and the medical center has been highly ranked in national reports.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of the story, King-Harbor Medical Center was mistakenly identified as UCLA-controlled and managed.