LOS ANGELES Federal health officials threatened to cut funding to a troubled hospital after determining it jeopardized the lives of its emergency room patients. Inspectors said Thursday that Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital, formerly known as King/Drew, has 23 days to resolve its problems or it would lose its federal funding.
They also noted even if the issues are dealt with, the hospital could lose its federal certification because it didn't meet the terms of an agreement with the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The deal called for the hospital to adhere to Medicare's basic standards. The review was conducted following a report in the Los Angeles Times about a woman writhing in pain for 45 minutes on the floor of the emergency room lobby without receiving medical attention. Inspectors also were looking into another case in which a man with a brain tumor waited four days in the hospital's emergency room when he needed to be transferred to another facility for life-saving brain surgery.
The hospital had been hoping for a clean bill of health when inspectors visit next month to determine whether to restore full funding. The hospital, just south of Watts, has been cited more than a dozen times over the past 3 1/2 years for inadequate care that has led to patient deaths and injuries. It has faced the risk of losing its federal certification and funding before, but has been able to avoid it.
Arnold Schwarzenegger has intervened in the past to keep the hospital certified. Hospital officials have tried to make improvements. The hospital closed its trauma unit, hired new managers, spent millions of dollars on consulting and scaled back the number of beds from more than 200 to 42.
The Board of Supervisors has said the county cannot continue operating King-Harbor long term without federal funding. Without another solution, they've said, the hospital could be forced to close. Asked what could be done to fix the hospital, Supervisor Yvonne Burke, whose district includes the hospital said, "You know what, if I knew what to do, I would tell you right now and I would go out and do it.
I'm just as concerned as anyone that the people receive good care." LOS ANGELES Federal health officials threatened to cut funding to a troubled hospital after determining it jeopardized the lives of its emergency room patients.
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