Shut down King-Harbor

Re “Key promises unfulfilled at King-Harbor,” June 19

How many more innocent sick people need to die unnecessarily before the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors admits that this city would be better off with this facility closed until it can be run safely? Do the supervisors have a number in mind for acceptable deaths before something drastic is done? Can the federal government not see that patients are in more danger of losing their lives by just going there than if they were forced to travel farther to a safe medical facility?

It is beyond reason why the supervisors allow this facility to remain open. It is not for the good of the community; it must be for the good of their careers and political supporters. What a sad commentary for a city whose history has been one of progressive thinking and action.

BETH AYER

Los Angeles

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The Harbor-UCLA Medical Center can’t save Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital from itself. I have been a hospital-based registered nurse in Southern California for 26 years. It is painfully obvious to me that there is no amount of training that can be provided by Harbor-UCLA that could turn King-Harbor around, short of gutting the staff and starting over with all new faces.

You cannot expect Harbor-UCLA to “train” compassion, accountability, responsibility and professionalism. That is either a part of a person’s character or not. From what I have read, none of these traits were sought after, valued or fostered at King-Harbor. If anyone truly cares about safe healthcare for that community, they should start by chaining the doors of King-Harbor now.

THERESA FOX

Torrance