The L.A. County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to close
Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center’s trauma unit,
dealing a blow to community leaders and other protestors, including
UCLA medical students, who fought to keep it open.
Four board members voted to end trauma services, with only
Yvonne Burke, who represents the area, abstaining. Inspectors found
a slew of severe problems with the hospital in the past few years,
including patient deaths attributed to poor nursing and
mismanagement. L.A. County Health Director Thomas Garthwaite
recommended closing the hospital’s trauma unit to focus on
its overall operations.
King/Drew serves about 1,000 trauma patients annually in an area
just south of Watts, a neighborhood racked by violence. Residents
have decried the proposed closure as one whose cost would be
measured by the number of people who die because they don’t
reach a trauma center on time.
Antonio Bonet, a UCLA medical student who receives training at
the Charles R. Drew University of Science and Medicine adjacent to
the King/Drew hospital, said he plans to collaborate with peers and
other leaders to ensure supervisors know the community disapproves
of their decision. He was one of about 70 UCLA medical students who
protested the proposed closure at a hearing last Monday.
“It’s a huge mistake, and lives are going to be
lost, but the fight’s not over,” Bonet said.
“We’re going to be there writing and protesting and
doing everything possible.”
UCLA medical student Sonia Lohiya said she was disappointed by
the board’s decision, and that closing the trauma unit runs
counter to the mentality of someone who hopes to practice medicine
in the future.
“All I learn is that when you are in the greatest
situations that are of life and death importance, such as trauma
cases, you need to get to a hospital as soon as possible and get
the care you need regardless of who you are or what
happened,” she said.
Bonet said shuttering the trauma unit would impact his
education, as he would no longer be able to receive training in
surgery, emergency medicine and anesthesiology there.
The board of supervisors also voted to state that its long-term
goal is reopening the trauma unit, which will begin decreasing
services Dec. 1 and cease operations around February, 2005. Burke
said resuming trauma services would be contingent on factors like
securing accreditation and improving overall operations.
“˜”˜It’s a very somber day,” she
said. “˜”˜We can’t change the fact that we have to
do something. Accreditation must be saved for that
hospital.”
Members of the audience repeatedly interrupted Tuesday’s
board meeting, with many shouting and waving signs reading
“Save trauma, save King.”
Lohiya said though she understands the board had its reasons for
voting to close the unit, the consequences will be felt.
“You’re just going to have more deaths,” she
said. “That’s just the fact of the matter ““ this
community will suffer.”
With reports from Bruin wire services.