Struggling to survive, South L.A.'s MLK hospital seeks greater share of county funds

This is read by an automated voice.Please report any issues or inconsistencies here.

See more from the L.A.Times in Google Search.

Set us as preferred Martin Luther King Jr.Community Hospital in Willowbrook is the main emergency medical care option for hundreds of thousands of South Los Angeles residents, but space is so tight that many patients are treated in large metal-frame tents on the pavement outside.On a recent summer day, loud air conditioners blew cool air as nurses drew blood and tended wounds, calling to mind the makeshift spaces used during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.The tents are a stark indication of the dire financial state of the hospital, whose leaders say it could be forced to close if it doesn’t find a way to consistently bring in more money.

The hospital recently reported $14 million in net income for its most recent fiscal year, but operated in the red each of three prior years.Next year, it anticipates losing $80 million to $100 million in annual funding as a result of 2025’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, or HR1, which mandated changes to Medicaid eligibility and financing.“One of the wealthiest cities in one of the wealthiest states in the country, in the wealthiest country in the world, in modern-day America, and we’re caring for patients in four white tents on black concrete,” Tony Weiss, MLK Community Healthcare’s director of media relations, said during a tour of the hectic emergency department.

“That’s crazy.”As MLK hospital struggles against severe financial headwinds, its leaders are calling on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to reevaluate how it awards the funds the county collects via Measure B, which levies a form of property tax.In fiscal year 2025, funds brought in via the measure totaled approximately $427 million, according to the county.The ballot initiative, which was approved by county voters in 2002, described “an annual special tax to raise revenue to support the Count...