my latest incarnation of a party ticket. mccain-lieberman didn't pan out for crap. poor johnny became a whore of the demopublicans.

tom tancredo/michael bloomberg

that's my vote as of now.

Posted on Sun, Oct. 03, 2004

LA hospital's emergency room to close Monday

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - A hospital emergency room whose doctors see an average of 80 patients a day is closing Monday because of a shortage of on-call surgeons and specialty physicians, hospital officials announced.

The emergency room closure at Northridge Hospital Medical Center's Sherman Way campus was ordered by the county Department of Health Services. It comes on the heels of last month's vote by the county Board of Supervisors to begin a process expected to result in the closing of the trauma center at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center in South Los Angeles.

"There is a severe health care crisis in California, and we're just in the eye of the storm," said Jeff Conway, president of Northridge Hospital Medical Center.

The hospital has been having trouble retaining emergency room staff since announcing earlier this year that it plans to close the entire 209-bed Sherman Way campus by the end of 2004.

Officials say the hospital is losing more than $1 million a month because of the number of uninsured patients it sees and the low reimbursement rate it receives for treating poor people.

In moving to close King/Drew's trauma center, the Board of Supervisors said the facility was draining resources needed by the rest of the hospital.

"The emergency medical system is falling apart before our eyes," said Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky.

At Northridge Hospital, emergency room patients will be transported to other local hospitals after Monday's closure. That will likely increase waiting times, said Carol Gunter, assistant director of the county's Emergency Medical Services Agency.

Hardest hit by the Northridge closure will be poor and uninsured people who visit the emergency room for routine medical care because they don't have doctors, said City Councilman Tony Cardenas, whose district is served by the hospital.

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this has nothing to do with illegal immigration. nothing to see here, move along.

zev yaroslavsky - the same nitwit that buckled to the ACLU on the county seal when they threatened to sue, completely missing the point that this change will cost millions of dollars.