Editorial: King/Drew closure comes at cost of lives

Closing the Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center’s
trauma unit will save the County of Los Angeles money, but likely
at the cost of lives.

For years, the King/Drew Medical Center has been plagued by
mismanagement and service quality problems. Most recently, a nurse
allegedly turned down a patient’s audible heart monitor,
perhaps leading to a preventable death.

The County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to
shut down the trauma center, saying the only way to save the
hospital as a whole was to close parts of it down.

But that move ignores the crucial role King/Drew’s trauma
center plays. According to the county Department of Health
Services, King/Drew is the only certified Level One trauma center
in a 94-square-mile region with 1.5 million inhabitants. Trauma
centers serve the most seriously injured patients, such as those
involved in shootings and major car accidents.

The closure of King/Drew will mean thousands of victims each
year will have to travel up to 10 additional minutes to receive
emergency care ““ quite possibly the difference between life
and death.

There is no doubt King/Drew needs internal reforms. But if the
hospital served Beverly Hills instead of South Los Angeles, it is
hard to imagine the trauma center being shut down to save a few
million dollars.