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Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital

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Coordinates: 33°55′24″N 118°14′37″W / 33.923229°N 118.243737°W / 33.923229; -118.243737
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Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital
Martin Luther King Jr. – Los Angeles Healthcare Corporation (MLK-LA)
Map
Geography
Location1680 120th Street
Willowbrook, Los Angeles
Los Angeles County, California, United States
Coordinates33°55′24″N 118°14′37″W / 33.923229°N 118.243737°W / 33.923229; -118.243737
Organization
Care systemPrivate, Nonprofit
FundingGovernment hospital
TypeCommunity
Affiliated universityUniversity of California, Los Angeles
Services
Beds130
History
Opened2013, opened 2015
Links
Websitewww.mlkcommunityhospital.org
ListsHospitals in California

Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital, also known as MLK-LA, is a 131-bed public community hospital in the unincorporated Willowbrook neighborhood of southern Los Angeles County, California, just outside of the Los Angeles city limits.[1] It was planned and designed to especially serve the surrounding South Los Angeles communities' needs, including those of underinsured or uninsured patients.

The hospital opened on July 7, 2015,[2] in a new US$208,500,000 building.[3][4] The hospital on the site of the former Martin Luther King Jr. Multi-Service Ambulatory Care Center, originally named the Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, known as King/Drew.[5] The adjacent Los Angeles County Department of Health Services Martin Luther King Jr. Outpatient Center opened in a new building in 2014.[6]

History

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The closure of Martin Luther King Jr. Multi-Service Ambulatory Care Center in 2007, due to revocation of federal funding after the hospital failed a comprehensive review by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, had immediate ramifications in the South Los Angeles area, which was left without a major hospital providing indigent care.[7][8]

In 2009, the County of Los Angeles successfully negotiated with the University of California to reach a compromise, whereby the county would provide funding for construction of a replacement hospital, and the UC system would provide physician staffing.[8] A nonprofit foundation, the Martin Luther King Jr. – Los Angeles Healthcare Corporation, was established to administer the hospital.[8]

Administration

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The hospital is administered by Martin Luther King Jr. – Los Angeles Healthcare Corporation (MLK-LA), a private nonprofit organization.[9] The County of Los Angeles provided the capital funds for construction, and the University of California, Los Angeles healthcare system provides professional services and staffing.[9]

In August 2012, MLK-LA's Board appointed Elaine Batchlor, a physician and former chief medical officer for L.A. Care Health Plan, as the hospital's first chief executive officer.[10][11]

Operations

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The hospital provides general acute care, basic emergency services, labor and delivery services, health education and outreach programs, along with other services typically provided by community hospitals, including radiology, laboratory, and blood bank services.[9]

The hospital serves a low income community where almost all the residents are African American and Latino. South LA has the lowest number of hospital beds per 100,000 people of any area in Los Angeles County. As a low-income community, the main system of funding healthcare is Medicaid, which is known as Medi-Cal in California and which pays providers very low rates.[12]

Transportation

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The hospital has walking distance access to the Metro A Line and Metro C Line stations, as well as Gardena Transit and LADOT DASH buses.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Mlkcommunityhospital.org: Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital . accessed 7.7.2015
  2. ^ LA Times: "A new beginning for MLK hospital and the community", 6 July 2015.
  3. ^ "Approve Resolution for Reimbursement of Expenditures for the Multiservice Ambulatory Care Center/Ancillary Building (C.P. 70497) and the Inpatient Tower Renovation (C.P. 88945) Projects at Martin Luther King, Jr. Medical Center" (PDF). Chief Executive Office. County of Los Angeles. March 30, 2010. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
  4. ^ "MLK Hospital Construction Nears Completion". Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. County of Los Angeles. August 21, 2013. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
  5. ^ Cosgrove, Jaclyn (March 28, 2024). "When Martin Luther King Jr. came to L.A., only one white politician was willing to greet him". Los Angeles Times. Research by Scott Wilson. Retrieved March 29, 2024.
  6. ^ Los Angeles County Department of Health Services: Martin Luther King Jr. Outpatient Center website . accessed 7.7.2015
  7. ^ Charles Ornstein, Tracy Weber and Jack Leonard, King-Harbor fails final check, will close soon, Los Angeles Times, August 11, 2007.
  8. ^ a b c Sample, Herbert A. (December 23, 2012). "New MLK hospital rising in LA". California Health Report. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
  9. ^ a b c "Frequently Asked Questions". Martin Luther King Jr. – Los Angeles (MLK–LA) Healthcare Corporation. 2013. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
  10. ^ "Health plan chief to head Martin Luther King Jr. hospital". Los Angeles Times. August 27, 2012. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
  11. ^ "New MLK Community Hospital Appoints Dr. Elaine Batchlor as Chief Executive Officer". Business Wire. August 27, 2012. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
  12. ^ Bauman, Anna; Chakrabarti, Meghna (January 18, 2021). "In LA, 10 People Test Positive For COVID-19 Every Minute. What's Behind The Surge?". WBUR. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
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