Los Angeles (October 4, 2006) - The closure of a major Inglewood hospital next month means Los Angeles County will lose its 10th emergency room in 5 years. This closure alone will result in the diversion of an estimated 16,000 patients with "severe" injuries or illnesses to other packed ERs in 2007. With the number of Southland residents continuing to rise, why does the number of its emergency and trauma care centers continue to decline, and how will this impact you or someone you know? Join Larry Mantle on KPCC's AirTalk for a live panel discussion to learn about how this problem has become a crisis and what can be done to address it.

Panelists include:

Stephen Ralph, President and CEO of Huntington Hospital
Carol Meyer, Director of Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services
Jim Lott, Executive VP of the Hospital Association of Southern California
Dr. Irv Edwards, South Los Angeles ER Physician

The special broadcast will take place Friday, October 6th from 10:00 - 11:00 am at Pasadena's Huntington Hospital in the Research Conference Hall, 734 Fairmount Ave. The public is invited to attend. Please RSVP at airtalk@kpcc.org.

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Southern California Public Radio (SCPR) is a member-supported public radio network that operates 89.3 KPCC-FM in Los Angeles and Orange County, 89.1 KUOR-FM in the Inland Empire and 90.3 KPCV in the Coachella Valley. Reaching more than a 600,000 listeners every week, SCPR is the most listened to public radio news service of any kind in Southern California and serves the diverse communities of Southern California with award winning local news coverage as well as the most NPR (National Public Radio) content available anywhere in the region. SCPR's flagship station, KPCC, has garnered over 200 journalistic honors including 3 Distinguished Radio Journalist awards (from the Greater LA Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists) and the 2008 top honor for Breaking News from the LA Press Club. SCPR also features signature public radio programs from American Public Media, the BBC and Public Radio International. Listeners around the globe can access news, join blogs, download podcasts, as well as hear a live web stream at www.scpr.org.

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