After death, LA hospital faces training demand

Troubled by a recent case in which a woman died awaiting treatment in its emergency department, at least one Los Angeles County supervisor is pressing Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital to train its staff better. Supervisor Yvonne Burke wants to see the hospital, which treats many indigent patients, require customer service training for key employees. Officials are responding to the recent death of Edith Isabel Rodriguez, a 43-year-old woman who died in the emergency department lobby after complaining of severe stomach pain. The hospital has already put a nurse involved in the incident on administrative leave, and it's conducting an ongoing investigation into the matter. Department of Health Services employees already get customer service training, but MLK-Harbor staff would get new, enhanced training focused on providing "timely and compassionate" service. The facility, formerly known as King/Drew, has long been dogged by charges of patient care quality problems.

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