Medical School Thrives While King-Harbor Continues to Struggle

As problems persist at the King-Harbor Medical Center, its former medical school affiliate is expanding. Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science is building a multi-million dollar research building and starting a nursing program. KPCC's Patricia Nazario stopped by for Friday's groundbreaking ceremony.

Patricia Nazario: Someone had neatly arranged a small dirt mound, white hard hats, and shiny silver shovels behind a black velvet rope for the photo op. Drew University president Dr. Susan Kelly was lighthearted about all the pomp and circumstance.

Dr. Susan Kelly: Do I have to get some kind of gardening shoes on? I'm not really sure. I don't think I brought the right shoes...

Nazario: The Australian psychologist wore a business suite and black high heels. Alongside her in dress shirts and ties stood Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi and South L.A. Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally. In about 18 months, the ground they occupied will be home to be Drew's new $30 million Life Sciences Research and Nursing Education Building. Designers have planned a two story, 63,000 square foot structure.

Kelly: This building is not just a symbol of survival and stability...

Nazario: On stage under a white tent, Dr. Kelly told dozens of supporters what the investment in the building means to Drew University and South L.A.

Kelly: It is a symbol also of dedication, commitment, resilience, tenacity, people who hold on.

Nazario: And people who let go. It's been a messy separation. Dr. Kelly took over Charles Drew just months before its sister facility, King/Harbor Hospital, collapsed. She sued L.A. County for reducing King/Harbor to an ambulatory care center, because the move gutted the university's residency program. Then she began building allies in Sacramento and set out to defy the way people perceived Drew University.

Kelly: People were under the mistaken view that we were the education arm of the hospital. That we were a part of the county and that we lived because they lived.

Dr. Keith Norris: It's unfortunate. What would be ideal is that the hospital would be thriving, and the university would be thriving.

Nazario: Longtime faculty member Dr. Keith Norris insists no hard feelings linger against L.A. County. He said the university looks forward to working again with its ally across the street. For now, he's focused developing a top-notch nursing program.

Norris: Not only is there a shortage of nurses, but there's an even greater shortage of nurses in leadership positions.

Nazario: Veteran UCLA nursing professor Mary Ann Lewis attended the groundbreaking ceremony. She said it'll also be good for the neighborhoods surrounding Drew.

Mary Ann Lewis: They'll build a pipeline from the elementary schools, to the high schools, to college. So that's, that's the value, because the school is right here.

Nazario: Drew University is taking on about $25 million in debt to finance its new research building. They're naming it after someone who's also represented the area in many capacities, Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally.