Organizations Formally Submit Proposals To Reopen King-Harbor Hospital

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 08 Nov 2007 - 8:00 PDT

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Five health care organizations have formally submitted proposals to reopen Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital, Los Angeles County health officials announced on Tuesday, the Torrance Daily Breeze reports (Torrance Daily Breeze, 11/7). County officials shut the hospital down after it failed a critical federal inspection three months ago. The hospital served mostly minority and low-income patients (Kaiser Health Disparities Report, 10/31).

The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services issued a call for proposals last month. John Cochran of DHS, in a letter to the county Board of Supervisors, said Temple Community Hospital, Black Foundation/Care Group International, Pacific Hospital of Long Beach, SSB Solutions, and BenGodWin Realty and Surgical Development Partners submitted the proposals. Three other organizations -- Daughters of Charity, the University of California, and Catholic Healthcare West -- will bypass formal proposal submissions and negotiate directly with health representatives, Cochran said.

According to the Daily Breeze, there is "no secret" that the University of California-Los Angeles is the top choice. Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke in September said that UCLA is best equipped to operate the hospital, the Daily Breeze reports.

County health officials will now review the proposals and make recommendations by Nov. 14. The board is expected to begin discussions with selected operators in December, according to DHS officials (Torrance Daily Breeze, 11/7).

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