Neon Tommy

Despite odds, a boost in heart health for South LA

September 1, 2014 By Neon Tommy 1 Comment

By Belinda Cai, Diana Crandall, Bentley Curtis, Taylor Haney, Daniel Jimenez, Kevin Mallory, Ken Mashinchi, Jonathan Tolliver and Yingzhi Yang

Zumba class at the Baldwin Hills Mall. | Daniel Jimenez

The Baldwin Hills Crenshaw community is changing shape.

The South L.A. neighborhood has received various grants within the past several years to start programs aimed at reducing its relatively high rates of diabetes, heart disease and obesity while improving access to nutrition and basic health services.

For many people, these efforts have worked. Take Debra Finley, who signed up for free Zumba classes through the BFit program at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza.

“I was 195 pounds,” said Finley. “Now I’m 145.”

It is still unclear whether overall health outcomes are improving in the area. Many of these programs are less than a decade old, and are being pushed into neighborhoods that remain swamped with fast food restaurants and liquor stores. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only 8 percent of area food retailers in the area are considered healthy.

Yet, many positive trends are emerging. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Baldwin Hills, Crenshaw, Health, More on Intersections Tagged With: baldwin hills, Black Diamond, community health councils, Crenshaw, crenshaw yoga and dance, Crenshaw/LAX, diabetes, health, health care, metro, obesity, yoga, zumba

A new King hospital in South LA

June 16, 2014 By Neon Tommy Leave a Comment

Graphic by Fei Yu/Neon Tommy

Following multiple incidents of malpractice, fraud and preventable patient deaths exposed by the Los Angeles Times‘ Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage, the Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center in South L.A.’s Willowbrook neighborhood closed its doors for good in 2007.

King/Drew, infamously known as “Killer King,” did not start out bad. It was founded in the wake of the Watts Riots, representing hope, health, and rejuvenation in a city that was rebounding from violence and death. It represented power for African Americans. It opened with the promise to be the best hospital in America.

As time went on, the hospital fell victim to negligence and systemic administrative failure.

Now, after eight years, nearly 1.2 million residents in the surrounding area will finally gain access emergency health care once again, with the arrival of the new Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital in May 2015. The Outpatient Center opened to much fanfare on May 28. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Health, More on Intersections Tagged With: king drew, neon tommy, south l.a., south la, South Los Angeles, Willowbrook