County-USC Medical Center

* I am writing this in response to the threat of closure at the L.A. County-USC Medical Center. I have been following this issue closely in the media and I believe some key issues remain unaddressed. I feel compelled to share with you how this closure will not only affect those with limited resources, but will have an effect on each and everyone of our lives and the lives of our families.

I am a nurse who was educated at the LACMC School of Nursing. I have worked in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the medical center for eight years. At professional conferences I am proud to acknowledge that research and references cited are frequently from physicians that I have worked side by side with at this facility. Physicians who are tops in their field, and have changed the course of medicine for the entire nation. Anyone who has ever been seriously ill can attribute their successful outcome in large part to treatment modalities that are developed and practiced by the teams of dedicated nurses and physicians that choose to practice at County-USC hospital.

The nurses and physicians that are trained at this facility are the same nurses and physicians that may eventually be caring for you and your family in the private sector. I think people need to see the big picture.

LISA A. NICHOLSON

Granada Hills

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* I was overcome with feelings of sadness and horror after reading “A Matter of Life and Death” (June 28). My 11-year-old son faced death after a car accident in January. He sustained life-threatening head injuries and was taken to County-USC hospital. There, the world-class Intensive Care Neurological Unit nurses, surgeons and physicians provided him with specialty care he could not have received elsewhere in Los Angeles County. He also could not be transported without severely risking his life.

My son is doing well. He just graduated from the 6th grade last month and the smile he gave me when he received his certificate was a gift from God. But how many children will have no chance to receive this type of care if the Board of Supervisors closes the hospital? The county needs to solve the financial crisis, but not at the cost of human lives.

LYDIA M. GARCIA

Fontana