County Hospital in Baldwin Park

We applaud the vote by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to resolve the political impasse on rebuilding the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center (Oct. 27). We hope this political solution will be followed by a good medical solution.

We believe a 600-bed facility will never meet the medical needs of a county with the largest concentration of uninsured residents in the nation. Agreeing to build an additional, small facility in Baldwin Park is a positive step. But many questions remain. If additional provisions are not made to build the Baldwin Park facility beyond 60 beds, we may still fall far short of meeting the community’s actual needs--the 750 to 780 beds specified in numerous prior objective studies.

We have questions about what medical services this 60-bed facility would offer. Will it include a trauma center, intensive care unit and other acute services, or will Baldwin Park be a step-down facility? These and other issues concerning level of care need to be addressed to determine if the board’s motion calling for the acquisition of the Baldwin Park facility offers a meaningful medical solution.

The board’s recent action may make political sense, but it does not yet make medical sense.

BRIAN D. JOHNSTON MD

Chair, Board of Trustees

Los Angeles County Medical Assn.

* To build a 60-bed hospital in Baldwin Park in the 21st century is absurd. In this age of high-tech medicine, such a facility would be little more than a nursing home. Why not build a 660-bed hospital to replace L.A. County hospital? This would satisfy the politicians, and patients and taxpayers would both benefit.

ERIC ROBERTS

Los Angeles