For a public hospital, King/Drew is flush. But it spends millions on employees’ odd injury claims, lavish doctor pay and workers who don’t show up.
A culture of mismangement pervades nursing, orthopedic surgery, residentsÂ’ training and the pharmacy. Individual shortcomings often make matters worse.
Fearful of provoking black protests, they shied away from imposing tough remedies on inept administrators. ‘We have failed the community,’ one board veteran acknowledges.
Alarmed colleagues reported pathologist Dennis Hooper to King/Drew officials, but he stayed on the job. Records detail sloppy work and faulty diagnoses even before he was hired.
County board must give up its control of King/Drew, experts say. Some also suggest rooting out incompetent workers, linking with a different medical school, even closing for a time to regroup.
