King/Drew Loses Appeal of Poor Rating

A national accrediting body has upheld its unfavorable rating of physician-training programs at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, making it among the most troubled teaching hospitals nationally.

Last fall, King/Drew and its affiliated medical school appealed the negative review by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, but the council affirmed its decision at a meeting this month, Los Angeles County health officials said Tuesday.

This is the second consecutive unfavorable rating given to King/Drew for its oversight of 18 residency programs. If the problems are not corrected within two years, the council could move to shut down all its teaching programs.

Separately, the council is forcing two individual doctor-training programs at King/Drew -- surgery and radiology -- to close in June because of problems there. Another training program, neonatology-perinatology, has been recommended for closing. And three other programs -- internal medicine, anesthesia and family medicine -- are on probation or have received warnings.

Los Angeles County, which runs the hospital, pays Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science $13.8 million annually to run the training programs at King/Drew, which is in Willowbrook, south of Watts.

In light of the recent problems, county health officials are renegotiating their contract with Drew University to increase accountability.

Dr. Harry E. Douglas III, interim president of Drew University, said the accrediting council’s decision had been expected and that officials were working to correct longstanding problems. He said he hoped to correct all the problems within a year with the help of outside experts from the University of California and new staff.

“We’re disappointed but we’re prepared to move forward,” Douglas said. “It’s turning around, and we’re working very hard on it.”

Douglas was appointed in January after the school ousted President Dr. Charles K. Francis. A national task force had called for his removal.

The task force, led by former U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher, accused Francis and other leaders at Drew University of allowing “the evolution and continuation of the present crisis” and of failing to respond “with the sense of urgency that the situation demands.”

Dr. Thomas Garthwaite, director of the county Department of Health Services, said his office was working with Drew University to pare back the number of residencies at the hospital and focus on core programs.