Prior Position on MLK Hospital Closing “Traumatic” for Ridley-Thomas

Ridley-Thomas’s repeated denials of his prior position to close MLK Trauma Center and Hospital during televised debate proves false.

Los Angeles, California – Desperate to rewrite history in his candidacy for LA County Supervisor, Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas falsely claimed he opposed closure of the MLK Hospital and Trauma Centers.

The first televised debate between Councilmember Bernard Parks and Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas highlighted the differences between the two main candidates in the race to succeed Supervisor Yvonne B. Burke for LA County Supervisor of the 2nd District.

However, the differences became most apparent as the questions moved to health care, specifically the closure of King/Drew Hospital. Councilmember Parks OPPOSED closing King/Drew Hospital and Trauma Centers, Ridley-Thomas SUPPORTED the closings.

Although Senator Ridley-Thomas repeatedly claimed to be in “strong support” of the King/Drew Hospital and Trauma Center, articles in the LA Times illustrate that, in fact, he supported closings at MLK.

According to an article in the LA Times on September 14, 2004:

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Monday unexpectedly moved to shut down the trauma unit at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, immediately drawing the ire of physicians, politicians and community activists.
Ridley-Thomas said, “It’s about time that the Board of Supervisors faced up to their responsibility, and has chosen to take appropriate action. But Assemblyman Mark Ridley-Thomas (D-Los Angeles), applauded the board's latest actions, saying they were long overdue.
"It's about time that the Board of Supervisors faced up to their responsibility, and has chosen to take appropriate action, albeit unpopular," he said. "There's no expert in the area of public healthcare worth his or her salt who would deny that Martin Luther King hospital was in need of radical intervention." (Los Angeles Times, September 14, 2004)

Even as late as August 13, 2007, the City News Service quotes Mark Ridley-Thomas as saying:

Ridley-Thomas said the decision was not surprising. He said, “This hospital, while doing some good has too often failed to meet even basic standards of care, a pattern that has continued unabated for a number of years.” (City News Service, August 13, 2007)


During the debate tonight, Senator Ridley-Thomas said he has continuously fought to keep it open. Yet, nothing in his public statements before or following the vote to close the trauma center or the hospital itself suggest anything but Ridley-Thomas’s full support for shutting it all down.

“It was one of the most extraordinary public examples I have ever seen of a candidate repeatedly denying their own position on an issue so central to this campaign. Mark Ridley-Thomas can rewrite his position, he just can’t rewrite history.

The record is clear, Bernard Parks opposed the closure, he spoke out at rallies and testified in front of the Board of Supervisors to keep it open. Ridley-Thomas called the hospital a failure and stated, unequivocally, that closing the trauma center was “appropriate”. That’s not the kind of advocacy residents of the 2nd Supervisorial district deserve,” said John Shallman, Park’s Chief Campaign Strategist.