Supervisor Apologizes for King/Drew

Los Angeles County Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke said Wednesday that she was “deeply sorry” for instances of poor patient care at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center and promised an audience at the hospital that she would work to improve it.

Also Wednesday, the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, which is affiliated with the hospital, announced plans to restructure its board of trustees.

The board, which has been under political pressure to reform, has been criticized for blocking needed changes and fostering poor communication with hospital administrators. In December, a task force headed by former U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher urged the board to “commit to self-reformation and accountability.”

The hospital has been troubled for years, but the problems seemed to accelerate last year, with reports of three patient deaths under questionable circumstances. Drew University lost accreditation in three critical doctor training programs.

Burke’s community meeting was significant for her apology and because the crowd represented what had been a missing voice in the debate over care at King/Drew: that of the Latino residents who make up the greatest share of its patients. The Board of Supervisors oversees the county health system, and Burke represents the district where King/Drew is located.

Almost all of the 100 or so people who met with Burke in a hospital auditorium were Spanish-speaking parishioners of churches in the neighborhoods surrounding the county medical center near the intersection of the Harbor Freeway and Imperial Highway. They told Burke in respectful but insistent tones, some through interpreters, that they needed to keep pressure on King/Drew management to reform.

Several told of poor service they had received. One woman, Cristina Contreras -- a parishioner of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Compton -- said her mother had gone to the hospital with stomach pain, had been forced to wait 18 hours, and ultimately died of a heart attack. Contreras said she was certain her mother’s heart condition could have been detected had she been admitted quickly.

Others praised the hospital’s patient care.

Burke conceded that the hospital has had many problems. She added: “To anyone who has had a problem with the services here, I am deeply sorry for that.”

The meeting was sponsored by Los Angeles Metro Strategy -- Industrial Areas Foundation. It claims membership based in local churches, schools, community-based organizations and unions.

Until now, community debate about King/Drew has been dominated by African American organizations -- mainly the Black Community Health Task Force and the Congress of Racial Equality. But the demographics of the hospital’s service area have shifted since its opening in 1972 from being overwhelmingly black to mostly Latino.

The common response of Latinos to trouble at the hospital has been “Ni modo -- what can you do?” said the Rev. Stan Bosch of Compton, who co-chaired Wednesday’s meeting. That attitude, he said, is partly because many in the community are living in the U.S. illegally.

“What we say all the time in our preaching is, ‘Although you don’t have a vote in this country, you do have a voice.’ ”

Bosch said Los Angeles Metro Strategy has been meeting with Burke for several months to urge her to act decisively at the hospital. Before that, he said, “We’ve wondered where she’s been.”

Asked if he was critical of her handling of the facility, Bosch said, “What I like to say is that she is very present at the moment, and that’s what’s important.”

Bosch also said he was “very impressed” by a tour of the hospital earlier Wednesday at which county officials showcased some of the improvements they have made in recent months.

The hospital is in the midst of a major administrative transition and recently reopened a surgical unit that had been closed because of problems with patient care.

The restructuring of the 33-member Drew University board came on the heels of a letter from Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally (D-Compton) to Dr. Carole Jordan-Harris, chairwoman of the board. Dymally said there was “a consensus among black elected officials ... that the entire membership of the Drew board of trustees should resign.”

He said three needed to stay to constitute a legal quorum.

Dymally said his letter had the endorsement of two members of Congress and a majority of the California Legislative Black Caucus. Burke’s deputy for health issues, Pat Miller, said Wednesday she thought Jordan-Harris had agreed to the suggestion and has asked lawyers to see how it could be done. Jordan-Harris did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Dymally aide Warren Quann said the idea of getting rid of the board had grown out of a suggestion by Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-Carson) during a community meeting at King/Drew in March. He said Rep. Diane Watson (D-Los Angeles) also supported the idea.

In a phone interview from Washington, Millender-McDonald said the Drew board was too large to be effective and lacked members with expertise in such areas as finance and accounting, which are crucial to the running of a university.

Assemblyman Mark Ridley-Thomas (D-Los Angeles) said he was among those endorsing Dymally’s letter and reformation of the Drew board.

“It’s fundamentally necessary in order for the institution to make the necessary corrections,” he said. “New leadership, new blood, new standards have to be set.”