“Save Trauma/Save King-Drew” said one placard. “Don’t disrespect or underestimate us” read another. Protesters included clerical workers, nurses, and doctors at King/Drew; medical students; high school students; and workers living in Watts, Compton, and Willowbrook—the communities served by the hospital.

Watts is part of South Los Angeles. Compton and Willowbrook are working-class suburbs in the South Los Angeles metropolitan area. About 1.5 million people, heavily Latino and African-American, live here. County statistics indicate that one third live below the official poverty level. The King/Drew Medical Center is the only public hospital that serves this area.

The hospital has been the target of criticism over the last several months for its shortage of nurses, overcrowded emergency room, and errors and lapses in patient care. Although the trauma unit has not been included in the criticisms, the board’s proposal is to shut it down to “save” the rest of the hospital.

The rally was one of several that have taken place over the last two months. The actions followed the September 13 announcement by the Board of Supervisors that they intend to close what is the county’s second-busiest trauma facility. This comes on the heels of a steady decline in medical services in the county over the last three years—as cutbacks have led to the closure of 10 trauma facilities in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.

The November 15 rally was followed by a public hearing of the Board of Supervisors. Over 400 people packed the hearing, which was scheduled for three hours but lasted more than six. Speakers included elected officials, representatives of the NAACP, local ministers, hospital workers, and representatives of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 660—the union which represents nurses at King/Drew.

Some pointed out that the hospital was the product of the 1965 Watts riots, when the predominantly African-American community at that time rose up in outrage in a social explosion that involved many thousands. Building a public hospital in an area that had no access to medical care was one of a number of reforms that were implemented to prevent further rebellions by working people.

Some at the hearing also pointed out that the problems that plague King/Drew are also faced by other hospitals—public and private—in the area.

One of the major complaints, for example, the severe nursing shortage at the facility, has been the focus of protests by nurses at King/Drew and other hospitals. County officials acknowledge that the county hospitals are about 1,200 nurses short of staffing needs.

A state law that went into effect January 1 of this year set limits on the number of patients a nurse can attend to. The current limit is one nurse for every six patients. The ratio is lower for nurses in more specialized units—such as intensive care. In the past month, over 150 nurses at county hospitals have refused supervisors’ instructions to take on more patients than the limit allows, citing concern for patient safety. About 20 nurses have been suspended for their defiance. Some arguments with supervisors grew so heated that police were called.

Grace Huguez, a registered nurse in the surgical trauma unit of LAC-USC Medical Center, was one of the workers who protested after being assigned 10 patients, four over the legal limit. “We’re barely able to check if the patients are breathing and if their IVs are working,” she said. “We don’t have time to actually see how they’re doing. What about all the other stuff that happens? Can we really catch everything when we have too many patients?”

County nurses have also been working without a contract for a year.

Similar demonstrations have also been announced. One is a December 1 rally at the state capital in Sacramento to protest Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s plan to postpone the implementation of phase two of the Safe Staffing Law. Phase two lowers the nurse-patient ratio to 1 to 5. The demonstration has been called by the California Nurses Association, which has 57,000 members in the state.  
 
 
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