YES ON AB 2426

Since its establishment in 2015, MLK Community Hospital has been at the front line of addressing the disparities faced by our Black and Latino communities. 

However, fulfilling this crucial responsibility has become increasingly challenging. The hospital’s emergency room volume has surged to over 115,000 cases per year, more than 300 patients per day. This patient load exceeds MLK Community Healthcare’s intended capacity by 3.5 times.

To effectively meet the needs of our community, MLK Community Healthcare urgently requires substantial investment from the state in the 22-23 fiscal year budget. With additional funding, MLK Community Healthcare can  focus on the following areas:

• Recruitment of more doctors to serve South Los Angeles: By attracting additional medical personnel, we can ensure that Black and Latino communities have access to high quality healthcare services. 
• Emphasis on preventative care:Shifting our focus towards preventive care and outpatient services will lead to better health outcomes for our community. By prioritizing early intervention, we can detect and address potential health issues before they escalate into major heath issues, reducing the burden on emergency services and reducing cost in the long term.
• Financial stability for MLK Community Healthcare: It is imperative to support MLK Community Healthcare’s financial well-being so we can continue to serve South LA’s most vulnerable.

As a frontline hospital serving the most vulnerable, 87% of our emergency room visits are from Medi-Cal or uninsured patients. We lose tens of millions annually on emergency department care every year. Filling the gap will allow us to invest in enhancing the hospital’s ability to meet the evolving needs of our community and expand community-based care. 

"Disease, Inequity and Resilience in South L.A."

For more than a year the Los Angeles Times chronicled MLK Community Healthcare’s fight against COVID in the hard-hit community of South LA.  The series of articles that resulted - "Disease, Inequity and Resilience in South L.A." – portrays the ravages of the pandemic and the underlying racial, social and economic forces that drove it.

Read the entire award-winning series here that includes each of the stories below. 

By Joe Mozingo and Francine Orr

1. In South L.A., the battle to stay ahead of the mental health turnstile never ends

2. In South L.A., a legacy of limbs lost to diabetes tells a larger story

3. Bigotry confines their trans daughter at home. Her parents worry what she’ll do when they’re gone

4. His lonely war in Room 533: How a COVID patient fought to keep his life from crumbling

5. For two COVID-19 patients, life and death rests on ‘el tubo’

See additional health inequity media coverage from the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, and more, below. 

About MLK Community Hospital & healthcare funding

MLK Community Hospital provides high quality, life saving care to one of the most underserved communities in California—South LA. 

South LA desperately needed the services delivered when the hospital opened in 2015. Nothing made this more clear than COVID-19. Underlying health conditions contributed to extreme health disparities, causing our Black and Latino community members to suffer at rates three to four times that of other communities.  

As a frontline hospital serving the most vulnerable, MLK Community Hospital loses millions on emergency department visits. Why? MLK Community Hospital has the worst payer mix of any free standing independent community hospital in California.  

Designed to serve 40,000 in its emergency department, the hospital cares for over 100,000 annually. Chronic conditions are the true epidemic—a diabetes rate 3x the state average, a life expectancy 10 years less.  AB 2426 can help to change that.