Burke explores options for King-Harbor Hospital

County Supervisor Yvonne B. Burke Tuesday received approval from the  Board of Supervisors to direct the countys executive officer, William  Fujioka, to report back on the stalled negotiations with Pacific  Hospital in Long Beach at the boards next meeting.
After expressing  the desire to reopen Martin Luther King (King Harbor) Hospital, Pacific  Hospital abruptly pulled out of the negotiations last week. With the  intense scrutiny that any potential operator will face in this process,  Im not surprised by Pacific Hospitals hesitancy to move forward in the  negotiations, Burke said.  I want to assure residents of the Second  District that I remain fully committed to re-opening the facility as a  full service hospital to meet the medical needs of the undeserved  community.
County officials have been under pressure to reopen  King-Harbor, formerly known as Martin Luther King-Drew Medical Center,  as a full-service hospital since emergency and inpatient services were  halted last August.
King-Drew failed an inspection given by the U. S.  Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and was about to lose its  federal funding.
One of the criticisms leveled at the Pacific  management team was whether the healthcare professionals had the  experience to run a large hospital like King-Harbor.
Burke said that  she will try to work with Fujioka to bring the Pacific team back to the  negotiating table, but conceded she did not know of a way to alleviate  the intense public scrutiny.