Department of Health Services officials Tom Garthwaite, left, and Fred Leaf announce that Martin Luther King Jr. Medical Center, Los Angeles Countys foundering public hospital, will move to shut its prized trauma unit by December and hire outside turnaround experts in an overhaul of its operations. (Robert Gauthier / LAT)
County Supervisors, from left, Gloria Molina, Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, Zev Yarovslavsky, and Michael Antonovich during a press conference to announce a comprehensive rescue plan for King/Drew Medical Center, including phasing out its trauma unit to lighten the load in the emergency department. (Robert Gauthier / LAT)
Department of Health Services official Tom Garthwaite, left, announces a comprehensive rescue plan for King/Drew Medical Center. Members of the county board of supervisors attended the announcement, right. (Robert Gauthier / LAT)
LAFD paramedics rush John Smith into the trauma bay at King/Drew Medical Center on Nov. 17, 2002. (Brian Vander Brug / LAT)
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King/Drew Medical Center doctor Moises Vargas, left, pulls out a weapon from the pants of a patient in 2002. (Brian Vander Brug / LAT)
The lifeless lies in the trauma bay at King/Drew Medical Center on Nov. 17, 2002. (Brian Vander Brug / LAT)
