Emergency closure.

Emergency Closure: Los Angeles County Supervisors rejected the arguments of protesters and voted 4-0 to close the Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center's trauma unit. The Willowbrook center, south of Watts, serves the most violence-prone neighborhoods in the county and has treated countless victims of gunshots and stabbings, in addition to those involved in serious accidents. The move was seen as the first step in a sweeping reform of King/Drew, where substandard care has been blamed for several recent patient deaths. Supervisors and others said the level of service required at the trauma center placed a strain on the rest of the hospital. The board approved an amendment by Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, who abstained from the vote, to eventually reopen the trauma unit.