Hundreds Rally to Keep L.A. Hospital Open

The proposed closure of a busy hospital trauma unit serving a poor, violence-plagued neighborhood drew politicians, celebrities and hundreds of protesters at a rally and public meeting Monday. The Rev. Jesse Jackson, Yolanda King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., actress Angela Bassett and Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters joined nearly 1,000 people gathered near the Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, where protesters waved signs and chanted slogans against the closure. Afterward, the crowd jammed into a meeting where the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors took public comment. A stream of speakers denounced closing the trauma unit and the board extended the hearing for more than two hours as it continued late Monday. "I know that I am on the right side of this fight,'' King told the board, asking it for a compromise to keep the trauma unit open at the hospital named for her father. ``Health care is linked to the ethos of the civil rights movement.'' [more]

• Pictured above: Actress Angela Bassett, left, and the Rev. Jesse Jackson wait to be introduced during a rally in support of the trauma unit at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center Monday, Nov. 15, 2004, in South Los Angeles. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Monday held a state-mandated public hearing on closing the trauma unit at King/Drew Medical Center. [more]