King/Drew Given More Time, Funds
Following a contentious four-hour debate, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors decided Tuesday to give Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center more time and money to fix its burgeoning problems.
Although some supervisors have suggested severing King/Drew’s ties to its affiliated medical school or even temporarily closing the hospital, the board delayed any major decision about the facility’s fate.
Several supervisors acknowledged Tuesday that they didn’t know what to do in the face of weekly reports about suspicious patient deaths and possible corruption by employees.
“I don’t know what to trust or who to trust,” said Supervisor Gloria Molina, who called the hospital “a cesspool.”
Last fall, the county hired a turnaround firm to overhaul King/Drew at a cost of $13.2 million for one year. Although Navigant Consulting Inc. acknowledges its progress has been slower than anticipated, the supervisors Tuesday agreed to give the company an additional $1.8 million.
The county is paying Navigant $67,500 per month plus expenses for each of three top executives.
Navigant director Kae Robertson said her firm is still focused on fixing basic functions and might seek more money in coming months.
In the event reform efforts fail, the board ordered county health officials to explore handing management of the hospital to another outside company on a permanent basis. Supervisors asked for a report by August.
King/Drew repeatedly has been faulted by regulators and accreditors over the past two years for poor care and lax oversight of doctor trainees. And in recent weeks, county auditors have identified several examples of senior doctors working at their private practices on county time.
The 33-year-old hospital serves as a crucial safety net for the largely poor black and Latino residents in the Watts and Willowbrook neighborhoods.
Supervisors continued to voice their dissatisfaction with Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, which the county pays $12 million annually to oversee doctor trainees at King/Drew and provide some clinical services there.
But the board agreed to give the university four more months to hire a new president, medical school dean and other physician leaders before deciding whether to end the county contract.
Speaking to the board, Bart Williams, chairman of Drew’s board of trustees, announced that the current medical school dean, Dr. Marcelle Willock, has resigned, effective at the end of June.
Willock has come under fire from King/Drew doctors for her management style.
A Drew spokesman would not discuss why Willock was leaving and said the doctor was not available for comment.
Drew President Dr. Charles Francis was forced out in January 2004, and a search continues for his successor.
Williams said Drew’s faculty are much more engaged in solving the problems at both the university and the hospital than they have been in the past.
“I can’t pretend to have a solution to every problem,” Williams said. “We’re not asking you to save us. We’re only asking you to work with us.”
In response to recent allegations of timecard fraud against King/Drew physicians, the Board of Supervisors directed the county’s lawyers to file lawsuits against doctors who have worked at their private practices while being paid to be at King/Drew.
The board also asked the county Department of Health Services to punish King/Drew Medical Director Dr. Roger Peeks for “not monitoring and tracking physician work hours accordingly.”
And county supervisors asked for monthly reports on accusations against staff at all county hospitals.
Dr. Harry Ward, one of the King/Drew doctors who has been suspended while being investigated for alleged timecard fraud, appeared before the board to defend himself.
Ward, the chief of nephrology, said he had been seeking permission for seven years to work at a private dialysis clinic and train residents there.
“We run a tight ship in my division,” he said. “I’m going to stay and persist and try to clear my name.”
