County Fires Manager of Clinic Tied to King/Drew

The administrator of the medical clinic associated with troubled Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center was fired this week, less than a year after she was hired, officials said.

Jeanne Taylor had been working at the Hubert H. Humphrey Comprehensive Health Center only since August, but she did not pass her probationary period, Los Angeles County Health Director Dr. Bruce Chernof said in an e-mail late Wednesday to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

Taylor’s hiring was touted as a milestone by Navigant Consulting Inc., the firm chosen by the county to turn around King/Drew after a series of lapses in medical care that led to patient deaths.

And her departure comes at a pivotal time. Federal health inspectors will conduct a top-to-bottom review of King/Drew by the end of August that will determine if the hospital can keep $200 million in federal funds.

Many King/Drew patients receive their outpatient care at the Humphrey clinic, which is near South Main Street and East Slauson Avenue. The clinic is overseen by King/Drew’s management.

County officials would not discuss the specific reasons for Taylor’s termination, citing her appeal rights. But in a statement, the county said the decision was unrelated to patient care and showed that the human resources process at King/Drew was “working correctly.”

“The hospital moved promptly to identify and transition interim leadership,” the statement said. Floretta Taylor, who is not related to the prior administrator, was named interim leader of Humphrey.

In an interview, Taylor said she was proud of what she accomplished at Humphrey, including securing accreditation from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.

King/Drew lost its accreditation last year and has not gotten it back.

Taylor said she identified problems that needed to be addressed to make the clinic more efficient and satisfying for employees and patients.

“They have the right to make the changes they think are right for the direction they want to go,” Taylor said of county officials.