Sanction Is Closer for King/Drew

Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center moved a step closer Thursday to losing its national accreditation, a move that could threaten its doctor-training programs and $14.8 million in private insurance contracts.

The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations denied King/Drew’s appeal of a preliminary decision to strip the hospital of its seal of approval. King/Drew plans to appeal once more, but commission officials have said it would be a longshot.

If the Los Angeles County-run hospital loses its final appeal, it will automatically lose accreditation. That could happen as early as next month.

Out of the 4,579 hospitals accredited by the commission, only 11 have lost their seal of approval since 1998. King/Drew, in Willowbrook south of Watts, is one of seven hospitals nationwide to be recommended for loss of accreditation this year.

In addition to the loss of insurance contracts and potential closure of training programs, another less likely effect would be losing $200 million in annual federal funding if King/Drew cannot assure government regulators that it meets their safety standards.

The proposed sanction against the hospital followed a year of disclosures related to failures in medical care. Several times the federal government has threatened to cut off funding for lapses, including medication errors, the use of Taser stun guns on mental patients and neglect by nurses that was linked to several patient deaths.

Dr. Thomas Garthwaite, director of the county Department of Health Services, said the hospital would reapply for accreditation in several months if it lost the appeal.

But first, he said, an outside consulting firm is assessing King/Drew’s weaknesses and devising a plan to fix them.

“The important message for the community is that this [the likely loss of accreditation] doesn’t close the hospital,” Garthwaite said.

County Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, whose district includes King/Drew, said she hopes the commission will change its rules to allow King/Drew another year to fix its problems. But leaders of the accrediting group have said they don’t base their decisions on promises of reform.

Meanwhile, Burke has appointed former Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson to handle issues relating to King/Drew for her office. “He will be working on that and other ... major issues,” Burke said of Wesson, who will be her special assistant for special projects. “From his standpoint, I believe that the county is an excellent place for him to be because he’s not out representing some private interest, and he remains in government.”

Burke, who was sworn in this week for another four-year term, has said this would be her last term in office.