LA County Hires Help for Troubled Hospital

County supervisors Tuesday voted to hire an outside consultant to fix medical problems at troubled Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center. The panel also rejected requests that it delay a Nov. 15 hearing on whether to close the trauma center at the inner-city hospital. Critics worry that sending critical patients to other hospitals could fatally delay their treatment. Chicago-based Navigant Consulting Inc. was given sweeping authority to review and supervise medical activity at the hospital beginning Nov. 1, although it won't look into finances or budgeting. The one-year contract, worth up to $13.2 million, marks the first time Los Angeles County has allowed a private outside group to take over day-to-day operations at one of its hospitals. King/Drew is one of the few full-service county hospitals in South Los Angeles, a largely poor black and Hispanic area plagued by gang violence. Its trauma center handles a large volume of gunshot wounds and is the second-busiest in the county. The hospital came under scrutiny after federal inspectors found that five patients died last year from negligence. King/Drew has been ordered to correct its deficiencies quickly or face loss of accreditation and $200 million in federal funds. [more ]