Hospital CEO who had front row seat to history now striven to heal South LA

WILLOWBROOK, Calif. (KABC) -- In 1968, a girl named Elaine attended the Poor People's March on Washington.

"I remember seeing lots and lots of people camping out," Dr. Elaine Batchlor said. "People who were poor, but who were there to stand up for social justice."

Now, Dr. Batchlor leads a hospital named after the civil rights leader behind that march, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Since 2012, she has served as chief executive officer of MLK Community Healthcare.

"For me, the connection is social justice and because of when and how I grew up, social justice has always been a very personal and deeply held value for me, and I know that the work of social justice is not done," Dr. Batchlor said.

Growing up in a recently desegregated neighborhood in Maryland, Batchlor enjoyed spending time in the library in the company of books. One of those books would change her life.

"It grabbed me because it portrayed a career in medicine as being about three things: about helping to advance medical knowledge, healing individuals, and improving the health of communities," she recalled.

Those pillars led her to medicine and shape her work today.

Batchlor graduated from Harvard, UCLA and Case Western Reserve University. She is board certified in internal medicine and rheumatology, recognized for her work to advance health equity, including in the communities she serves today.

"I knew that there would be many challenges, but I also knew that the goal of bringing quality healthcare to a community that has been underserved for decades was well worth taking on those challenges," she said.

The hospital aims to provide healthcare that is equal to that in more affluent areas, focusing on improving people's health through priorities like research, and by meeting people where they are.

"Going upstream of the hospital and making sure that we are bringing resources to the community, to help people stay healthy and avoid getting sick enough to end up in a hospital," said Batchlor, calling her job a labor of love she shares with the people who work alongside her.

"They share the passion and the commitment for the mission and the service to our community, and none of what we've achieved would be possible without those people working hard every day to make it happen."