MLK Hospital/ER Closure - DREW/UCLA Consequences?

[xxbruinxx]

Just recently, the ER of the MLK hospital was shut down, and within two weeks i believe, the hospital will be shut down and patients transferred to other private and public hospitals.

Any Drew/UCLA students out there? What effect, if any, will this have on your 3rd and 4th years? I know people have said that students would work at Harbor/UCLA instead, but not sure how definite that was.

just wondering.

Also, how does this affect admissions at Drew/UCLA?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Non-TradTulsa]

Just recently, the ER of the MLK hospital was shut down, and within two weeks i believe, the hospital will be shut down and patients transferred to other private and public hospitals.

Any Drew/UCLA students out there? What effect, if any, will this have on your 3rd and 4th years? I know people have said that students would work at Harbor/UCLA instead, but not sure how definite that was.

just wondering.

Also, how does this affect admissions at Drew/UCLA?

Somebody from CA will have to give you the details, but I know that Drew pulled out of MLK some time ago. They didn't have much choice.

 

[Nasrudin]

The profound collapse of a hospital so important to an extremely underserved community is a fascinating study of systemic failure and it is horrible beyond belief. The medical students will be scooped up by other systems the same as those in post-Katrina New Orleans. The medical profession generally takes care of its own. The real alarm should be what is going to happen to the people of that community. How are the other hospitals going to be able to absorb the massive amount of patients that will flood them especially emergent trauma which is excessive in the area already.

King-drew has been lurching and groaning under the pressure of its own inefficient weight for way too long. To see these late arriving politicians making claims of racism and clamoring for its continued, as is, existence is almost as negligent as the system itself.

I think we should pay close attention to this not just as premeds or med students--incidentally I don't see how the UCLA-Drew program could continue without its facilities--but as citizens witnessing the worst of all possible circumstances for a health care delivery system unfolding before our eyes.

 

[kuhlguy]

The profound collapse of a hospital so important to an extremely underserved community is a fascinating study of systemic failure and it is horrible beyond belief. The medical students will be scooped up by other systems the same as those in post-Katrina New Orleans. The medical profession generally takes care of its own. The real alarm should be what is going to happen to the people of that community. How are the other hospitals going to be able to absorb the massive amount of patients that will flood them especially emergent trauma which is excessive in the area already.

Ok ... I go to UCLA ... and have been following this ..

I cannot disagree more emphatically with u nasrudin .... that hospital is incompetent and has been killing far too many people ... every day there are new horror stories of deaths that did not need to happen ... a lady just recently came into the emergency room ... for 4 hours she barfed up blood ... the nurses just looked at her ... the janitor swept up the blood ... and then she died ... and worse it was a preventable/treatable condition ....

this hospital is plagued with incompetent workers that shoudl not be practicing medicine ... its not about being in an undeserved community ... its about hte fact that they are killing people!! who cares if its in a crap part of town or in beverly hills .... if the hospital is crap it needs to be shut down ... it woudl be a nightmare to be driving in the King area and get in an accident and be taken to that hospital ...

people need to cut this diversity/undesrved community crap out and realize that this hospital was a death trap!

 

[MyHobbyIsMedSch]

So, what do you think they could do to make the hospital better? I am sure it is already hard to attract good workers because it is in one of the more violent areas of LA. New leadership would be great. There needs to be some kinda of incentive for people to work at King Drew. I am sure many of the people if given the option would choose to work at a hospital in a safer area over King Drew.

Ok ... I go to UCLA ... and have been following this ..

I cannot disagree more emphatically with u nasrudin .... that hospital is incompetent and has been killing far too many people ... every day there are new horror stories of deaths that did not need to happen ... a lady just recently came into the emergency room ... for 4 hours she barfed up blood ... the nurses just looked at her ... the janitor swept up the blood ... and then she died ... and worse it was a preventable/treatable condition ....

this hospital is plagued with incompetent workers that shoudl not be practicing medicine ... its not about being in an undeserved community ... its about hte fact that they are killing people!! who cares if its in a crap part of town or in beverly hills .... if the hospital is crap it needs to be shut down ... it woudl be a nightmare to be driving in the King area and get in an accident and be taken to that hospital ...

people need to cut this diversity/undesrved community crap out and realize that this hospital was a death trap!

 

[xxbruinxx]

Ok ... I go to UCLA ... and have been following this ..

I cannot disagree more emphatically with u nasrudin .... that hospital is incompetent and has been killing far too many people ... every day there are new horror stories of deaths that did not need to happen ... a lady just recently came into the emergency room ... for 4 hours she barfed up blood ... the nurses just looked at her ... the janitor swept up the blood ... and then she died ... and worse it was a preventable/treatable condition ....

this hospital is plagued with incompetent workers that shoudl not be practicing medicine ... its not about being in an undeserved community ... its about hte fact that they are killing people!! who cares if its in a crap part of town or in beverly hills .... if the hospital is crap it needs to be shut down ... it woudl be a nightmare to be driving in the King area and get in an accident and be taken to that hospital ...

people need to cut this diversity/undesrved community crap out and realize that this hospital was a death trap!

I think nasrudin agrees with you...s/he stated:

King-drew has been lurching and groaning under the pressure of its own inefficient weight for way too long. To see these late arriving politicians making claims of racism and clamoring for its continued, as is, existence is almost as negligent as the system itself.


I'm in agreement as well. While I def. appreciate the need for healthcare services in that area, there's no reason trying to fix a disfunctional system. I think the focus now should be how to either get some private firms in there or expand facilities at other hospitals.

 

[Nasrudin]

Ok ... I go to UCLA ... and have been following this ..

I cannot disagree more emphatically with u nasrudin .... that hospital is incompetent and has been killing far too many people ... every day there are new horror stories of deaths that did not need to happen ... a lady just recently came into the emergency room ... for 4 hours she barfed up blood ... the nurses just looked at her ... the janitor swept up the blood ... and then she died ... and worse it was a preventable/treatable condition ....

this hospital is plagued with incompetent workers that shoudl not be practicing medicine ... its not about being in an undeserved community ... its about hte fact that they are killing people!! who cares if its in a crap part of town or in beverly hills .... if the hospital is crap it needs to be shut down ... it woudl be a nightmare to be driving in the King area and get in an accident and be taken to that hospital ...

people need to cut this diversity/undesrved community crap out and realize that this hospital was a death trap!

So much for trying to make a subtle point. Re-read my post. I think you will find there is little disagreement between us. What I am saying is that service to that community just went from bad to none and that it is tragic.

I also think it forebodes ominously for public institutions in these types of communities. A massive overhaul, that reached beyond the bureaucratic limitations of those responsible for its management, was past overdue.

 

[Non-TradTulsa]

I don't see how the UCLA-Drew program could continue without its facilities

I agree with you on a lot - but I think this statement is overly pessimistic. Drew, as a historically Black/Hispanic medical school, isn't going away. They're very unhappy about losing their primary hospital (www.cdrewu.edu), of course, but MLK's patients will go to the other University of California hospitals that serve the underserved L.A. population - UCLA/Harbor and UCLA/Olive. (And there is still LAC+USC). I'm sure the Drew training programs will continue within the UCLA system. It is a shame that the hospital is gone from Willowbrook, but apparently the hospital was so institutionally sick that someone is going to have to start over from scratch - L.A. County estimates it will take 18 months to find an operator and re-open the building as a new hospital.

 

[Nasrudin]

I agree with you on a lot - but I think this statement is overly pessimistic. Drew, as a historically Black/Hispanic medical school, isn't going away. They're very unhappy about losing their primary hospital (www.cdrewu.edu), of course, but MLK's patients will go to the other University of California hospitals that serve the underserved L.A. population - UCLA/Harbor and UCLA/Olive. (And there is still LAC+USC). I'm sure the Drew training programs will continue within the UCLA system. It is a shame that the hospital is gone from Willowbrook, but apparently the hospital was so institutionally sick that someone is going to have to start over from scratch - L.A. County estimates it will take 18 months to find an operator and re-open the building as a new hospital.

Ok. That's good to know. I forgot about the fact the Drew was more than a battery of residency programs. Which, was stupid of me, because I actually visited Drew when I was looking a California PA programs, when I went to LA tagging along with my wife to an art show. I forgot that Drew was a separate educational institution with its own programs. They seemed in such close proximity to the hospital, I forgot there is a distinction.

Yeah so while this will hurt them, hopefully they will stay afloat until the Hospital gets reopened.

 

[riceman04]

Ok ... I go to UCLA ... and have been following this ..

I cannot disagree more emphatically with u nasrudin .... that hospital is incompetent and has been killing far too many people ... every day there are new horror stories of deaths that did not need to happen ... a lady just recently came into the emergency room ... for 4 hours she barfed up blood ... the nurses just looked at her ... the janitor swept up the blood ... and then she died ... and worse it was a preventable/treatable condition ....

this hospital is plagued with incompetent workers that shoudl not be practicing medicine ... its not about being in an undeserved community ... its about hte fact that they are killing people!! who cares if its in a crap part of town or in beverly hills .... if the hospital is crap it needs to be shut down ... it woudl be a nightmare to be driving in the King area and get in an accident and be taken to that hospital ...

people need to cut this diversity/undesrved community crap out and realize that this hospital was a death trap!

I hope you were not only responding to that particular portion of Nasrudin's thoughtful response to the issue at hand. He, indeed, does emphasize something that is critical to the LA health care infrastructure's newly accentuated inability to handle the number of trauma cases that occur. Since you are aware of the Los Angeles city landscape, can you tell me the next closest Level 1 trauma center to where King Drew ER once stood?...It is not close at all (Harbor General is not that close to King Drew and is already attempting to cover emergency services for a vast area of South Los Angeles, Torrance, Rolling Hills, Huntington Park, etc....) What Nas was pointing out (or at least what I think he was pointing out) was that the people in the community no longer have a close option for seeking immediate emergency care.

Yeah, Drew was in shambles...and unfortunately needed to be closed b/c of the staff's inability to offer sound and dependable services. But what we should all consider now is what should be done to rectify the current lack of services in this area.

 

[riceman04]

I agree with you on a lot - but I think this statement is overly pessimistic. Drew, as a historically Black/Hispanic medical school, isn't going away. They're very unhappy about losing their primary hospital (www.cdrewu.edu), of course, but MLK's patients will go to the other University of California hospitals that serve the underserved L.A. population - UCLA/Harbor and UCLA/Olive. (And there is still LAC+USC). I'm sure the Drew training programs will continue within the UCLA system. It is a shame that the hospital is gone from Willowbrook, but apparently the hospital was so institutionally sick that someone is going to have to start over from scratch - L.A. County estimates it will take 18 months to find an operator and re-open the building as a new hospital.

Just don't bring in Tenet! (nervous laughter)

 

[Non-TradTulsa]

Just don't bring in Tenet! (nervous laughter)

Amen, brother. I can't believe Tenet got LAC+USC. But, I guess that's the trend... in my state, HCA now operates the University of Oklahoma Medical Center for the Oklahoma University Hospitals Trust Authority. And Ardent is the operator for the Oklahoma State University Medical Center.

Maybe they'll get that doc from Orange County who is buying small hospitals and jacking up the retail prices to ten times normal then refusing to contract with anybody. Don't get me started...

 

[riceman04]

Amen, brother. I can't believe Tenet got LAC+USC. But, I guess that's the trend... in my state, HCA now operates the University of Oklahoma Medical Center for the Oklahoma University Hospitals Trust Authority. And Ardent is the operator for the Oklahoma State University Medical Center.

Maybe they'll get that doc from Orange County who is buying small hospitals and jacking up the retail prices to ten times normal then refusing to contract with anybody. Don't get me started...

Waaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitttttttttttttttttt Tenet got LAC+USC!!!!!! Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh snap...the $hit just hit the fan (for me at least...wait till I tell my pops...he's a USC grad....and he hates Tenet)

What's going on with this doc in the OC?

 

[xxbruinxx]

Waaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitttttttttttttttttt Tenet got LAC+USC!!!!!! Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh snap...the $hit just hit the fan (for me at least...wait till I tell my pops...he's a USC grad....and he hates Tenet)

What's going on with this doc in the OC?

I should probably know this, but i dont...
who is Tenet? And why is he so unpopular?

 

[leftmid]

I should probably know this, but i dont...
who is Tenet? And why is he so unpopular?

Probably not, but in case I was wrong:


"Tenet Healthcare Corporation

Tenet Healthcare Corporation provides health care services primarily through the operation of general hospitals in the United States. The company owns or leases physician practices, captive insurance companies, and various other ancillary health care businesses, including outpatient surgery centers, diagnostic imaging centers, occupational and rural health care clinics. Its hospitals offer acute care services, operating and recovery rooms, radiology services, respiratory therapy services, clinical laboratories, and pharmacies; intensive care, critical care, and/or coronary care units; physical therapy; and orthopedic, oncology, and outpatient services. The hospitals also provide tertiary care services, such as open-heart surgery, neonatal intensive care, and neuroscience; quaternary care services in various areas, including heart, lung, liver, and kidney transplants; and bone marrow transplants. In addition, its hospitals perform gamma-knife brain surgery; and cyberknife surgery for tumors and lesions in the brain, lung, neck, and spine. As of December 31, 2006, the company operated 64 general hospitals, 1 cancer hospital, and 2 critical access hospitals, with a total of 16,310 licensed beds serving urban and rural communities in 12 states; and 2 rehabilitation hospitals; 1 long-term acute care hospital; and 1 skilled nursing facility. Tenet Healthcare was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas."

Am I right now?

 

[riceman04]

yeah....

Tenet is the worst of the worst of the worst...They regularly run hospitals into the ground, go bankrupt, and then get bailed out by Uncle Sam!!!!!

Gotta love that govt!

 

[Nasrudin]

yeah....

Tenet is the worst of the worst of the worst...They regularly run hospitals into the ground, go bankrupt, and then get bailed out by Uncle Sam!!!!!

Gotta love that govt!

Thanks for the nugget of wisdom. I never heard of this outfit previously. I am going to keep that card tucked away so that I don't make a bad decision applying to a residency in a place run by them