SAN FRANCISCO ““ Ongoing debate over the proposed University of California’s involvement in the reopening of the Martin Luther King Hospital continued at the UC Board of Regents meeting Thursday afternoon.
The board listened to a proposal presented by John Stobo, M.D. senior vice president for health sciences and services for the UC.
For the past 18 months, Stobo and his staff have worked on a memoriam agreement with the Governor’s Office and Los Angeles County officials to reopen the county hospital.
MLK closed two years ago due to poor oversight and substandard conditions, but the talks among state, county and university officials since then were brought to the board’s table again for further discussion.
“As a public trust, we must act in the best interest of society,” Stobo said. “The medical needs in this part of south L.A. are enormous.”
Under the plan, a new private, non-profit company named NEWCO will be created to manage the hospital. The new governance model would differ from the former system of L.A. County Board of Supervisors’ oversight, with seven members appointed by the UC and Los Angeles County.
Stobo told the board that his group already received outside opinion that financial liability to the university would be minimal to non-existent.
Los Angeles County will be expected to cover equipment and building renovation costs as well as a start-up fund in millions. The plan also anticipates the county to provide $63 million every year for operating costs over a five-year period.
University of California’s other roles would involve providing physician services to NEWCO and later establishing and overseeing future educational programs at MLK.
Many board members said they are in favor of opening the hospital despite the fiscal crisis.
Regent Sherry Lansing, committee of health services chair, said the board has a responsibility to protect the university, but such a project deserves support.
“We care so much about the community, and we want to do the correct thing,” Lansing said.
Like several other board members, Regent Odessa Johnson said she will support the plan in the UC Regents’ meeting next November.
“We’ll continue to make sure that everything is going to work out of the advantage of both Martin Luther King and to us,” Johnson said.
However, some UC Regents, such as George Marcus, said taking on another complex agreement may lead to more liability pressures for a university already facing its own budget problems.
“Regents, please, I know it is heart-wrenching. I know that it’s something that appeals to all of our emotions,” Marcus said. “All our intentions are good, but it could give us unintended consequences.”
Another issue brought up by regents was the possibility of politics in the three-way partnership between UC, LAC and the state.
Regent Frederick Ruiz said he will support the memoriam as long as it is free of the hospital’s negative political history.
“Any (politics) could destroy this opportunity, and the losers would be the people we need to help,” Ruiz added.
If the board approves the plan in November, the hospital may be opened as early as the 2012-2013 year.
Stobo estimates that that MLK will begin servicing in-patients on a smaller scale than at its previous height of activity. The renovated hospital will offer 120 beds instead of its former capacity of 500 as well as emergency rooms.
As of now, the plan would provide 10 to 12 full-time UC employee positions that provide mostly inpatient services.
After the meeting, Stobo said NEWCO would hire non-UC employees and may pursue contracts in the Los Angeles community. The White Memorial Medical Center and Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance could provide specialized services that MLK cannot afford to staff full-time, including neurology and neurosurgery.
He added that pre-med UCLA students eventually could work with MLK physicians who share the same passion and commitment within the heart of Los Angeles.
“If a student wants to give back to the community or who’s interested in addressing the health needs in underserved populations, this would be a terrific opportunity,” Stobo said.
As the fourth largest medical provider in the state, the university already oversees 60,000 employees, 10 hospitals and five medical centers.
The UC Board of Regents will meet again at UCLA on Nov. 17-19.