Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science has filed its threatened $125 million lawsuit against Los Angeles County, claiming that the county breached its contract when it restructured the university's teaching hospital. The suit claims that the county's decision to downsize King-Drew Medical Center, which the university used to train new doctors, harmed the community and stunted the progress of the school's 248 residents. Without the facility, poor city residents served by the facility have nowhere to go, and residents are in "limbo," university officials said. King/Drew had faced widespread criticism for patient deaths, and the medical school for inadequate training. When the hospital failed a CMS inspection and lost $200 million in Medicare funding, the county shrunk it down from a 537-bed facility to a much smaller hospital offering only basic services, now known as Harbor-MLK Community Hospital.
To get more information on the suit:
- read this Associated Press item