First, Supervisors Ridley-Thomas, Yaroslavsky and Knabe joined many health advocates from across the Southland on the UCLA campus for the momentous occasion:

Second, ABC News captured the 300-strong celebration of Second District residents watching a live video feed of the vote on the Martin Luther King, Jr. Hospital site:

Finally, Fox News shows footage from the Supervisor Ridley-Thomas led rally on the Martin Luther King, Jr. Hospital campus after the UC Regent vote:

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Much anticipated vote will culminate 18 months of discussion about a partnership to restore quality medical services to underserved residents of South Los Angeles

The University of California Board of Regents on Thursday will meet at Covel Commons on the UCLA campus to consider a proposed agreement with the County of Los Angeles to provide medical services at the new Martin Luther King, Jr. Hospital.

The much-anticipated vote will culminate more than 18 months of discussion with the UC about a partnership to restore quality medical services to underserved residents of South Los Angeles with a state-of-the-art facility on the site of the closed MLK Medical Center.

Due to public safety concerns, more than 400 people scheduled to be bused to UCLA Thursday for the University of California Regents’ vote on a proposed agreement with the County of Los Angeles to provide physician medical services at the new Martin Luther King, Jr. Hospital, will now gather at the hospital site, 12021 Wilmington Ave., Los Angeles 90059.

The buses are scheduled to begin arriving at the MLK site at 8:30 a.m. Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas will travel to the MLK site after the Regents’ vote to speak to a rally of hospital supporters at about 11:30 a.m. in the Claude Hudson Auditorium.

WHEN:

Thursday, November 19, 2009 @ 8:30 a.m. – Doors will open at 8:00 a.m. The Committee on Health Services will hear the item around 9:15 a.m.

LOCATION:

UCLA’s Covel Commons, 200 De Neve Drive on the UCLA campus (Map)

NOTE:

Immediately following the UC Regents’ vote, a press conference with Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, UC President Mark Yudof and California Assembly Speaker Karen Bass will take place in West Coast Room 315 of Covel Commons.

Supervisor Ridley-Thomas was asked to kick off the LA County Geographic Information Systems Day because of his longtime support for the technology. See the Supervisor’s remarks below and visit the important links under the video to learn more about GIS:

Important links:

LA County GIS Day

LA County Maps & GIS Website

Second District Solar Map Information

The economic downturn heaped on top of an already-broken health system has many families and communities across the nation feeling much pain these days. But health pain in the community of South Los Angeles is a story that is decades old. The pain is symbolically captured by the shuttered Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, closed a few years ago after a rather egregious and very public episode of a Latina woman who literally collapsed and died on the floor of the emergency room of the hospital. Her pleas for immediate assistance were ignored by the emergency room reception staff, and the entire experience was captured by hospital video cameras and replayed on television news for several days. The episode put the capstone on a derogatory shorthand expression that some South LA residents had for MLK hospital: “Killer King.”

After years of trying to manage a steady stream of reports and allegations of substandard health care at MLK, county supervisors made the painful but correct decision to close the hospital. They pledged to re-open it under new management, and on Thursday of this week a decision will be rendered by the University of California Board of Regents that will bring the promise of a new MLK one step closer to reality. The Regents will consider a proposal to have the University provide clinical and teaching program support at the hospital once it is re-opened, presumably by 2013. While the UC is not being asked to operate the hospital, the clinical and teaching program component is critical.

As a general rule, university hospitals (also known as “teaching hospitals” in some circles) are very attentive to evidence-based, high-quality care. This is not to say that all university hospitals are better than community hospitals without a teaching or university affiliation. But for a community like South Los Angeles, it will be important to have the imprimatur and involvement of the University of California in the re-opening of the hospital. A new hospital operator will have many ghosts and demons of the old MLK that need be exorcised, and the UC brand will help community residents establish a level of confidence that a re-opened MLK will provide high-quality care.

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Learn more about tomorrow’s UC Regents meeting

The UC Regents will consider the proposed agreement with Los Angeles County on the Martin Luther King, Jr. replacement facility this Thursday, November 19 at Covel Commons on the UCLA campus. Doors will open at 8:00 a.m. for the meeting, scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. The Committee on Health Services will hear the item around 9:15 a.m.

This much anticipated meeting will culminate over eighteen months of discussion with the University of California about a partnership that will restore quality medical services at a state-of-the-art hospital at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Medical Center site. Let your presence be your voice.

Limited transportation is available. Do not miss the opportunity to be part of history. Seating is limited.

To confirm your attendance, please call 213-743-7200 or go online here.

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Upcoming Second District H1N1 Vaccination Clinics:

What you need to know before you go (PDF)

Second District H1N1 information page

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