Supervisor seeks UC support for Martin Luther King Jr. Hospital

Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas is scheduled today to press the University of California Board of Regents to commit to partnering with Los Angeles County to reopen Martin Luther King Jr. Hospital.

Ridley-Thomas, along with a group of prominent health advocates, traveled to the regent's meeting in San Francisco, hoping to convince university leaders to formally commit to the partnership at their next meeting in Los Angeles in two months.

"The regents have indicated that they are 90% there, but I don't think you can get to November without September," Ridley-Thomas said.

Among those expected to testify at today's meeting are William T. Fujioka, the county’s chief executive officer; Dr. Hector Flores, representing the South Los Angeles Options Task Force; Keith Norris, interim president of Charles Drew University; and Lark Galloway-Gilliam of the Community Health Councils.

Others expected to testify include newly appointed L.A. City Fire Department Chief Millage Peaks Jr.; the Rev. Norman Johnson, representing the Los Angeles Ecumenical Congress; Gary Toebben, president and chief executive of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce; Kathy Ochoa, policy director for the Service Employees International Union Local 721; Barbara Segal of Neighborhood Legal Services; Veronica Melvin, executive director of the Alliance for a Better Community; and Michael Banner of the Los Angeles chapter of the Urban Land Institute.

Under the proposal, the county and the University of California would create a nonprofit entity, with the university providing physician services and medical oversight for the 120-bed hospital, scheduled to open in 2012.

-- Garrett Therolf at the L.A. County Hall of Administration