County Moves to Fire Surgeon at King/Drew

Los Angeles County is taking steps to fire a top orthopedic surgeon at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center after an audit found that he lied on his time cards and referred patients from King/Drew to his private practice, blatant violations of county rules.

The county Department of Health Services this week gave a termination notice to Dr. William T. Long, director of the orthopedic surgery physician training program, Long confirmed Thursday. The county owns King/Drew, a public hospital in Willowbrook, just south of Watts.

Long denied wrongdoing, saying he has dedicated his life to caring for the impoverished and underserved in Los Angeles County. He plans to appeal and can continue working at the hospital until a hearing is held on his termination. He said he intended to show up for work today.

The action comes a week after The Times reported that county auditors were investigating another orthopedic surgeon at King/Drew for allegedly violating conflict-of-interest rules. That physician, James K. Brannon, ordered nearly $1 million in medical equipment for King/Drew surgeries from a company he co-owns.

The Long and Brannon inquiries also come as the orthopedic surgery physician training program is falling apart. In July, an outside accrediting group recommended that the hospital consider closing the residency program or risk having it shut down. Among other things, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education said orthopedic surgery residents were reluctant to bring up complaints because they felt intimidated by their superiors.

The county plans to phase out the program.

Dr. Clarence Woods, chairman of orthopedic surgery, said his department’s ability to care for patients would be crippled by a loss of residents, Long’s recommended termination and the recent resignation of another orthopedic surgeon, Earl Brien.

The orthopedic department, which has only two full-time and several part-time doctors, is crucial to the hospital’s ability to provide trauma and emergency services.

“Every move is going to have a devastating impact on our ability to provide services,” Woods said. “We’re almost coming to a squeaking halt except for emergencies.”

Roger Peeks, the hospital’s medical director, said officials would try to hire more orthopedic surgeons and seek help from other county hospitals, but may need to curtail some services if the workload became too great.

In the audit of Long, obtained by The Times, county officials found that:

* Long violated county policies by referring his King/Drew patients to Centinela Hospital Medical Center in Inglewood.

* Although Long has filled out a time card indicating that he worked at King/Drew on Fridays, auditors found that he performed surgeries and saw patients at Centinela on at least six Fridays.

* Long treated staff, including residents, in an “inappropriate, disrespectful and disparaging” manner.

Long said he knew of only two Centinela patients in the last year, out of 300 surgeries he performed there, who previously had been King/Drew patients. He also disputed the allegation that he worked at Centinela while being paid by King/Drew.