Martin Luther King Community Healthcare
Sixteen local women were celebrated by the LA County Board of Supervisors and the county’s Commission for Women on March 18 at the Sheraton Grand Los Angeles Hotel. Several District 2 females were honored as “Women of the Year.”
“The reason that we thought it prudent to identify Dr. (Elaine) Batchlor for this year’s Second District woman of the year was to really acknowledge and lift up her work leading Martin Luther King Community Healthcare, a five-star, quality hospital and healthcare system with a nationally-recognized maternity program for our community,” Supervisor Holly Mitchell said.
According to Mitchell, the facility is seeing more than 120,000 patients a year, a number of whom have very limited income.
“She demonstrates, from my perspective, how true, authentic leadership can overcome incredible obstacles,” Mitchell said of the CEO. “When I think about today’s theme: ‘Women who advocate for equity, diversity and inclusion,’ Dr. Batchlor encompasses that and so much more.”
Batchlor will soon be featured on PBS program “Nova,” and in her acceptance speech, she credited her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother who lent support and made sacrifices through the years, thereby shaping her in her life journey.
“I accept this award today as a recognition of our shared purpose, and as an encouragement to continue to serve all the communities we serve, despite the odds,” said Batchlor to the luncheon audience of 500.
Dr. Yasmin Delahoussaye, chief program officer for Educating Students Together (EST), a nonprofit that assists high school students in college preparation, also lives in Mitchell’s district. EST has helped scholars achieve a 96% graduation rate, increased students’ SAT scores by as much as 420 points and has generated more than $13 million in scholarship funds for students over the past three years.
“We get in the way of educational inequities and social injustice,” said Delahoussaye, who works with foster and low-income youth. “We are a nonprofit that believes education is the foundation of a just and equitable society. We know that while education may be equally distributed in this country, opportunity is not.”
The Commission for Women (laccw@bo.lacounty.gov) is committed to reducing financial and health disparities among low-to-moderate income women in LA County and proceeds from the luncheon will be used to provide scholarships. This year’s scholarship application deadline is April 1.
