EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Little has changed among the Top 25 Los Angeles County hospitals, which lost 75 licensed beds over the course of the year, or 0.6 percent, for a total of 12,676 licensed beds, according to state records.
With 387 licensed beds, Little Company of Mary-San Pedro Hospital, formerly San Pedro Peninsula, lost 200 beds and fell 16 places to No. 20, the biggest move on the list. Hospital officials said the decline was due to suspension of some beds as a result of shifting programs.
Los Angeles County still controls the greatest number of hospital beds: a cumulative total of 3,257, just over a quarter of those in the Top 25. No. 1 USC Medical Center is among its five hospitals. Providence Health Systems and Tenet follow the county, each with three hospitals on the list.
The L.A. County system, which has suffered under state and local budget crises, recently received an additional $250 million from a federal aid package, to be disbursed over the next two years. The additional money means that No. 4 Harbor UCLA Medical Center and No. 23 Olive View UCLA Medical Center have been taken off the list of possible closures. No. 19 Rancho Los Amigos did not benefit from the additional funds, and is set to be closed later this year.
Nicole Taylor
The Pacesetter
L.A. County-USC Medical Center
With 1,395 licensed beds, L.A. County-USC Medical Center is again the largest hospital in Los Angeles County. Still, only 745 of its beds are in service, the balance held out of reach after the hospital suffered damage in the Northridge Earthquake.
The current facility will close when the new structure is completed, slated for 2006. The project, being built on the south side of the existing facility, will have three main structures: a 600-bed inpatient tower, a diagnostic and treatment building and an outpatient building.
Meantime, the number of beds available will dip further. L.A. County Board of Supervisors voted Jan. 28 to cut capacity by 100 beds.
Established in 1878 with 100 beds, the current facility was completed in 1932. LAC-USC Medical Center provides Los Angeles with 28 percent of its trauma care and is one of three burn centers in the county. It is also the largest academic medical center in the nation, training 1,500 medical professionals at any given time.
Nicole Taylor
