Stepping Out Of The Shadow Of 'Killer King' : Code SwitchFor decades, residents of Compton and Watts in South Los Angeles had to rely on one particularly troubled hospital for their medical care. A new state-of-the-art hospital replaced it, but faced many of the same challenges: too few beds, too many patients who need serious help, not enough money. Then came the coronavirus.
For decades, residents of Compton and Watts in South Los Angeles had to rely on one particularly troubled hospital for their medical care. A new state-of-the-art hospital replaced it, but faced many of the same challenges: too few beds, too many patients who need serious help, not enough money. Then came the coronavirus.
In The Shadow Of 'Killer King'
Scenes from Martin Luther King Jr. Hospital in South Los Angeles, which is dealing with the stress of the coronavirus pandemic.
Christopher Fernandez (left), an Intensive Care Unit nurse, speaks to Maria Arechiga, a ICU Charge Nurse, as she moves an intubated COVID-19 patient to a private room at Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital in South Los Angeles. The patient passed away later that day. The floor was converted to an ICU unit the week before to help with the surplus of COVID-19 patients.
Gabriella Angotti-Jones for NPR
Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital in South Los Angeles.
Gabriella Angotti-Jones for NPR
Dr. Elaine Batchlor, Chief Executive Officer of Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital, sits in her office.
Gabriella Angotti-Jones for NPR
An ICU nurse helps a COVID-19 patient speak to their family over an iPad.
Gabriella Angotti-Jones for NPR
Maria Arechiga takes notes on patients from a nurse who is leaving on lunch break in the ICU in a private room that has become a makeshift isolation room with plastic tarp hanging from the doorway.
Gabriella Angotti-Jones for NPR
A triage tent treating presumed COVID-19 patients sits outside of Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital.
