Real Health Care Reform in Our Own Backyard

by Webmaster

Real Health Care Reform in Our Own Backyard

As friends and foes to national health care reform are sounding off in town hall meetings across the country, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors has an immediate opportunity to create real health care reform right here in L.A. by passing two motions that will begin the process of reopening Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) Hospital. Reopening MLK will bring a much needed health care anchor back to South L.A. and end the emergency room ripple effect that continues to impact the entire region.

Today, the County Board of Supervisors will consider two motions proposed by Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. The first will authorize the County to negotiate with the University of California toward a partnership to open a new Martin Luther King, Jr. Hospital. The second will be the approval of a capital program to construct a new hospital, emergency room and multi-service Ambulatory Care Center. Both motions are critical towards the reopening the hospital.

Born out of the aftermath of the 1965 Watts riots, MLK can once again — with the right oversight — bring vital health care to a community that is woefully underserved. The hospitals reopening will also bolster the region's entire hospital safety net by alleviating the overflow of patients in neighboring emergency rooms as a result of its closure more than two years ago. Putting a stop to this dangerous ripple effect should be a priority for all Angelenos, no matter where we live.

I had the privilege of serving on the MLK Health Care Options Task force last year which studied hospital best practices around the county, and many of our task force's recommendations will become a part of a new model for MLK — a partnership with University of California to run the hospital as a private nonprofit, operated by an independent board of directors. This is a proven model showing success in community hospitals across the country.

The Chamber strongly supports the two motions to help reopen MKL and urges their passage in today's County Supervisors meeting. We applaud Supervisor Ridley-Thomas for making the reopening of MLK his number-one priority and for working diligently to build needed consensus among a broad group of stakeholders. We also acknowledge the University of California for its willingness to work with our community toward the opening of a new MLK in south L.A.

National health care reform may take years before its impacts are felt in our region. This is real "health care reform" in our own backyard that benefits everyone in the Los Angeles region right now.

And that's The Business Perspective.