Hundreds Rally to Keep L.A. Hospital Open
/The proposed closure of a busy hospital trauma unit serving a poor,
violence-plagued neighborhood drew politicians, celebrities and
hundreds of protesters at a rally and public meeting Monday. The Rev.
Jesse Jackson, Yolanda King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr.,
actress Angela Bassett and Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters joined nearly
1,000 people gathered near the Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical
Center, where protesters waved signs and chanted slogans against the
closure. Afterward, the crowd jammed into a meeting where the Los
Angeles County Board of Supervisors took public comment. A stream of
speakers denounced closing the trauma unit and the board extended the
hearing for more than two hours as it continued late Monday. "I know
that I am on the right side of this fight,'' King told the board,
asking it for a compromise to keep the trauma unit open at the hospital
named for her father. ``Health care is linked to the ethos of the civil
rights movement.'' [more]
- Pictured above: Actress Angela Bassett, left, and the Rev. Jesse Jackson wait to be introduced during a rally in support of the trauma unit at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center Monday, Nov. 15, 2004, in South Los Angeles. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Monday held a state-mandated public hearing on closing the trauma unit at King/Drew Medical Center. [more]
