Dozens of community partners, hospital employees and supporters filled the lobby of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital on June 2, 2017 for an exciting milestone: our hospital's first naming ceremony.
Hope Emergency Center, inspiring dedication
May this emergency room and those who watch over it be blessed to thrive in the challenges they encounter every day.
Rabbi Jonathan AaronTemple Emanuel of Beverly Hills
In early 2017, a Los Angeles couple generously gifted $2.8 million to expand our hospital's inpatient services. Wishing to remain anonymous, the couple suggested naming the hospital's emergency entrance symbolically to honor the gift of hope that MLKCH brings to South Los Angeles.
"Hope is contagious," said Manny Abascal, chairman of both the MLKCH and MLK Community Health Foundation boards of directors, speaking at the event. "Great things are happening in the community thanks to the great work here."
Chairman of the LA County Board of Supervisors Mark Ridley-Thomas gave opening remarks at the event and acknowledged the valuable role that the young hospital has in South Los Angeles, saying, "Our community has found this place. Our community trusts this place. Our community salutes this place."
Thanking the staff of the hospital's emergency department—which cares for more than 6,000 patients each month—MLK Community Health Foundation board member Denise Pines acknowledged, "There is a culture here at the hospital that is transforming healthcare."
With blessings from Rabbi Jonathan Aaron, Senior Rabbi at Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills, and Reverend Oliver Buie, Minister of Community Engagement at Holman United Methodist Church, the spirit of hope was invoked at the Friday afternoon ceremony. In Rabbi Aaron’s words:
May this emergency room and those who watch over it
be blessed to thrive in the challenges
they encounter every day.
Bless all of the men, women, and children
who will require emergency room assistance
Bless them with healing and strength
Bless them with care and love
Bless them, as you bless us…with hope.