Los Angeles hospital to lose funding

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- The King/Drew Medical Center in Los Angeles, founded after the 1965 Watts riots, may be managed by another facility after failing to pass federal inspection.

Federal funding for the hospital in south-central Los Angeles is to be cut drastically and the County Board of Supervisors have decided in principle to cut services and hand over hospital management to a nearby facility in Torrance, Calif.

African-American community members had a rally and a wake Monday to ensure the place is not shut down, reports The Washington Post. Supporters included U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., and the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

"The people that come here are on Medicaid. They're on fixed incomes. How are they going to get to Torrance? They don't have transportation," one community leader told the Post.

"We fought real hard to get this in 1965. I remember the Watts riots. I hope we don't have to do that again."

The inspection was done by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which said the hospital failed in nine of 23 areas. That will mean it will lose $200 million of its $380 million annual budget, the report said.