For six months, Los Angeles County supervisors have courted the University of California as their last, best hope to reopen Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital.
Then Mark Ridley-Thomas was sworn in this week as the newest board member. He immediately signaled that, as far as the troubled hospital in his district is concerned, he wants to be considered the first among equals.
Ridley-Thomas' arrival changes the dynamic on one of the board's longest-running and most vexing problems. Even before taking his seat at his first board meeting Tuesday, the former state senator appeared outside the long-troubled facility in Willowbrook to say he plans to start virtually from square one.
"We do have to get clear about who is on first base," he said. "Someone has to lead. Others have to support. I'm prepared to lead."
He said he will abandon the county's singular focus on the university and investigate all options anew. He wants to ensure that the facility reopens as a teaching hospital with a Level 1 trauma center and said he is open to sharing control with an outside partner.
It is unclear how that approach will be received by his four colleagues -- who either stayed mum or campaigned against him during his battle with Los Angeles City Councilman Bernard C. Parks for the seat.
During interviews this week, Supervisors Don Knabe, Gloria Molina, Zev Yaroslavsky and a spokesman for Supervisor Michael Antonovich said they remain unified behind bringing in the University of California.
King-Harbor shut down emergency and inpatient services after repeated failures to meet minimum standards for patient care resulted in a loss of federal funding in August 2007. Clinic services are still available.
County leaders began focusing on partnering with the university system after nine months of fruitlessly exploring alternatives. But Ridley-Thomas has expressed doubts about such a partnership, even while promising to do everything he can to be helpful.
"I think there's an earnest effort underway with the university. I don't find a need to be disruptive, nor do I wish to derail something that shows promise," he said in an interview. "It will have to be proved to me that it is promising. That has yet to happen."
