Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital |
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|---|---|
| Martin Luther King Jr. – Los Angeles Healthcare Corporation (MLK-LA) | |
| Geography | |
| Location | 1680 120th Street Willowbrook, Los Angeles Los Angeles County, California, United States |
| Coordinates | 33°55′24″N 118°14′37″W / 33.923229°N 118.243737°W |
| Organization | |
| Care system | Private, Nonprofit |
| Funding | Government hospital |
| Hospital type | Community |
| Affiliated university | University of California, Los Angeles |
| Services | |
| Beds | 130 |
| History | |
| Founded | 2013, opened 2015 |
The Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital, also known as MLK-LA, is a hospital with 131 beds. It is located in the Willowbrook area of southern Los Angeles County, California. This area is just outside the main city of Los Angeles.
This hospital was planned to help people in the nearby South Los Angeles communities. It especially helps patients who do not have health insurance or have very little. The hospital opened its doors on July 7, 2015. It is in a new building that cost about $208.5 million. The hospital stands where the former Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center used to be.
Contents
How the Hospital Started
The original hospital on this site, called the Martin Luther King Jr. Multi-Service Ambulatory Care Center, closed in 2007. It lost its government funding because it did not meet certain standards. This closure left the South Los Angeles area without a large hospital that could care for people who couldn't afford medical help.
In 2009, the County of Los Angeles worked with the University of California. They agreed that the county would pay to build a new hospital. The University of California system would then provide the doctors and medical staff. A special nonprofit group, the Martin Luther King Jr. – Los Angeles Healthcare Corporation, was created to manage the hospital.
Who Runs the Hospital
The Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital is managed by a private nonprofit group called the Martin Luther King Jr. – Los Angeles Healthcare Corporation (MLK-LA). The County of Los Angeles provided the money to build the hospital. The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) healthcare system provides the professional medical services and staff.
In August 2012, the MLK-LA Board chose Elaine Batchlor to be the hospital's first chief executive officer (CEO). She is a doctor and used to be a chief medical officer for another health plan.
What the Hospital Does
The hospital offers many important services. It provides general acute care, which means it treats serious but short-term illnesses. It also has basic emergency services for urgent medical needs. The hospital helps with labor and delivery for new mothers.
MLK-LA also offers health education and outreach programs to the community. Other services include radiology (like X-rays), laboratory tests, and a blood bank.
The hospital serves a community where many residents have low incomes. Most people in this area are African American and Latino. South Los Angeles has fewer hospital beds for its population compared to other parts of Los Angeles County. Because it is a low-income area, many people use Medi-Cal for their healthcare. Medi-Cal is California's program that helps people with low incomes get medical care.
Getting to the Hospital
The hospital is easy to reach by public transportation. It is close to stations for the Metro A Line and Metro C Line trains. You can also get there using Gardena Transit and LADOT DASH buses.
Related Places
- Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science – right next to the hospital.
- King Drew Magnet High School of Medicine and Science – also right next to the hospital.
- Martin Luther King Jr. Multi-Service Ambulatory Care Center – the hospital that was here before.
