Still Plagued by What Ails King/Drew

Re “Supervisor Calls On Health Chief to Quit,” April 27: Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich has called for the resignation of the head of the county Department of Health Services because of ongoing problems at the county-run King/Drew Medical Center, stating that those in charge must be accountable. I agree.

When hillside developments are approved and promises of quality and amenities are not fulfilled, when the county foster care system puts children in more danger, when a culture of death and neglect is allowed to run rampant in county hospitals, those responsible should be held accountable and resign.

In each case, the Board of Supervisors has been inactive until the press has brought these issues to the public’s attention.

For over 20 years, Antonovich has “served” the public as a supervisor and been in charge as these problems have failed to be solved again and again. He should follow his own advice, be responsible and resign.

Steve Lamb

Altadena

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Kudos to supervisors Antonovich and Gloria Molina for showing long-overdue leadership on the sad plight of King/Drew. It is time to replace the health department’s director rather than opt for the failed status quo. It is also time to fire overpriced Navigant Consulting. The $13.2 million paid to Navigant would be better spent to hire competent and honest doctors and many more nurses.

David Lister

Glendale

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The Board of Supervisors points the finger of blame everywhere but where it should: at itself and the Department of Health Services. The county notes that part of the crisis is the result of inadequate staffing, ignoring that last June it eliminated 435 positions at the hospital. Those reductions and the county’s elimination of the number of available beds caused the reduced patient census and resulting higher cost per patient.

At the same time, the county is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorneys’ fees trying to keep secret the board minutes and audiotapes from the two closed-door sessions in which the board voted to close King/Drew’s trauma center -- which the district attorney subsequently ruled violated California’s open meeting law. (Both The Times and Friends of King Drew have filed lawsuits to make those materials public.)

If Antonovich objects to “dumping good money into a sinkhole,” maybe he should start by refunding to the taxpayers the massive amounts of money the board has spent in its effort to perpetuate its unlawful, closed-door secrecy.

David H. Martin

Attorney for Friends

of King Drew

Beverly Hills