Local News in Brief : Plan Would Aid Hospital

State Health Services Director Kenneth Kizer said Friday that he supports boosting Medi-Cal payments to the nonprofit California Medical Center in downtown Los Angeles in order to avert drastic cutbacks in the hospital’s emergency services Aug. 1.

In a letter to hospital officials, Kizer said he hopes this will avert a legal battle that might erupt over the hospital’s plan to shut off public ambulance traffic.

Hospital attorney Jim Ludlam said earlier this week that Kizer had threatened to shut down the hospital if emergency room cutbacks were implemented without the state’s permission.

But in his letter, Kizer denied making the threat and said he could not “foretell” what his course of action will be. He stressed that his “highest priority is to ensure adequate access to emergency medical services in the downtown Los Angeles area.”