South LA community rallies for funding to keep maternity ward open at MLK Jr. hospital

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Medical providers, legislators and community leaders issued an urgent call to action for additional state funding for Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital.

"MLKCH is at the edge of a financial cliff," said Dr. Elaine Batchlor, CEO of the hospital.

Assemblyman Mike Gipson said the hospital - which reopened in 2015 -- saw more than 120,000 emergency department visits last year alone.

"Three times the volumes that it was originally planned for," said Gipson.

"The sickest of the sick come here because they don't have primary care," said state Sen. Steven Bradford.

One major concern is the possible closure of the hospital's maternity ward, considering a shortage in the South Los Angeles region. Gipson described it as a breaking point, adding 17 hospitals in the area have closed their maternity wards.

The hospital said 97% of those who receive maternity care are African American and Latina mothers, among the groups who experience the highest rates of maternal mortality.

The hospital offers a unique model that partners midwives and obstetricians, and sometimes doulas. The model has enabled the hospital to provide safe deliveries with a very low rate of C-sections and a very low rate of episiotimies, said Batchlor.

Gipson said he is urging his capitol colleagues to restructure the hospital's existing funding model and allocate $25 million in supplemental funding in the 2024-2025 state budget.

"The fundamental issue is that the the state portion of funding for the hospital needs to be adjusted," said Batchlor.

For many, this moment felt familiar, including for "Sweet Alice" Harris of Watts who helped rally support for the opening of the hospital in 1972.

"The reason this is so important because I lived here when we didn't have it," said Harris.

Harris said that at time, getting to the nearest hospital required three buses.

"So, I started praying, Lord, give us a hospital here. We got to have one here," she said.

Friday, she and others gathered to take action and pray again.

"We always say the budget is a reflection of our priorities and our values," Bradford said. "This is a priority."