News briefs

New panel to supervise patient care

The board of supervisors voted to create a panel of independent
health care experts to supervise patient care at county-run Martin
Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center.

Tuesday’s move would reduce the role of county health
officials at the troubled hospital.

Creation of a new board was a key recommendation of a consulting
firm the county hired to turn around the hospital, which lost its
accreditation earlier this month over lapses in patient care. The
medical center is facing a loss of about $200 million in federal
funding.

Under the plan approved Tuesday, oversight of the
hospital’s patient care and physician residency programs will
be placed in the hands of experts in finance, business and hospital
management and will report directly to the supervisors, bypassing
the county’s Department of Health Services.

Fake attorney pleads guilty to fraud
charges

A man who faked being a tax attorney pleaded guilty to fraud.
Jury selection was already underway in Thomas Warner’s trial
on Tuesday when there was an impromptu change-of-plea hearing with
Assistant U.S. Attorney Cynthia Valenzuela. U.S. District Judge
Margaret Morrow accepted the guilty plea.

Compiled from Bruin wire services.