Bill Text: CA SR43 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Enrolled

California Senate Resolution 43 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Relative to the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2017-06-19 - Read. Adopted. (Ayes 39. Noes 0. Page 1606.) [SR43 Detail]

Download: California-2017-SR43-Enrolled.html

Enrolled June 21, 2017

Passed IN Senate June 19, 2017

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Resolution

No. 43

Introduced by Senator Bradford

June 05, 2017

Relative to the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SR 43, Bradford.

WHEREAS, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science was founded 51 years ago to ensure that residents of underserved, underresourced, and underrepresented communities would have access to health care that is high in quality and culturally competent; and

WHEREAS, Social justice and community engagement are part of Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science’s mission to eliminate health disparities by training health professionals to work in areas where disparities exist; and

WHEREAS, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science is a private, nonprofit, student-centered university committed to cultivating diverse health professional leaders dedicated to social justice and health equity for underserved populations through outstanding education, research, clinical service, and community engagement; and

WHEREAS, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science’s vision is excellent health and wellness for all in a world without health disparities; and

WHEREAS, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science is a private institution with a public mission: a beacon of hope for South Los Angeles and communities like it; and

WHEREAS, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science is the only academic health sciences center in an area of over one million people; and

WHEREAS, In spite of persistent poverty in the surrounding neighborhoods, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science has continued to have a presence in the community; and

WHEREAS, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science has graduated more than 575 medical doctors, 2,700 postgraduate physicians, 1,200 physician assistants, 615 nurses, and hundreds of other health professionals; and

WHEREAS, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science’s student body reflects the diversity of California. Full-time students enrolled as of fall 2016 are 32 percent African American, 23 percent Hispanic/Latino, 20 percent Asian American, 16 percent multiracial, 6 percent White, and 3 percent unknown; and

WHEREAS, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science is a charter member of the Hispanic-Serving Health Professions Schools organization. Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science is also a member of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities; and

WHEREAS, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science graduates are two to three times more likely to practice in diverse and medically underserved communities than physicians trained in traditional medical schools; and

WHEREAS, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science is recognized by the United States Department of Education as a Historically Black Graduate Institution; and

WHEREAS, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science is not currently recognized on the National Trust for Historic Preservation as a Historically Black College and University; and

WHEREAS, Historically Black Colleges and Universities were established before 1964 with the intention of serving primarily members of the African American community; and

WHEREAS, Most Historically Black Colleges and Universities are located in former slave states; and

WHEREAS, There are more than 100 Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the United States; and

WHEREAS, There are no Historically Black Colleges and Universities west of Texas; and

WHEREAS, In 1941, as World War II progressed, Los Angeles faced a labor shortage in the war industries, and a huge migration of African Americans, mainly from the Deep South, moved to southern Los Angeles, including Carson, California, to seek employment; and

WHEREAS, The incoming African Americans faced a major housing shortage, since an estimated 85 percent of Los Angeles had restrictive housing covenants that barred people of color from living in White neighborhoods; and

WHEREAS, In 1963, Dr. Sol White, a Black pediatrician, surveyed the Watts area and was dismayed by what he saw. The closest hospital was miles away and the ratio of doctors was 160 for a population of 252,000; and

WHEREAS, A year later, the State Advisory Hospital Council rejected a proposal from Dr. White to build a hospital in Watts; and

WHEREAS, The university, then a postgraduate medical school, was conceived during planning discussions in 1963; and

WHEREAS, In 1965, civil disturbance erupted in the Watts community of Los Angeles, California, later known as the Watts Rebellion. Before the 1960s were over, a total of 265 American cities would experience racial upheaval. In August 24, 1965, Governor Edmund G. Brown charged the Governor’s Commission on the Los Angeles Rebellion to establish “an accurate chronology and description of the Rebellion and attempt to draw any lessons which may be learned from a retrospective study of these events.” The Governor’s commission, led by John A. McCone, found that health conditions of the medical facilities and care were insufficient in the South Central Los Angeles area and that the number of doctors in the southeastern part of Los Angeles was grossly inadequate. The commission recommended a new, comprehensively equipped hospital in the area; and

WHEREAS, The chairman of the commission was McCone, a former head of the Central Intelligence Agency. The McCone commission established that poor health status and diminished access to health care were among the major factors that had fomented that upheaval; and

WHEREAS, Real progress to establish the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science was not made until the McCone commission cited poor health status and diminished access to health care among the major factors fomenting the 1965 civil unrest in Watts; and

WHEREAS, In 1973, Governor Ronald Reagan signed Senate Bill 1026 by State Senator Mervyn Dymally to appropriate funds to support the clinical health sciences education, research, and public service conducted by Charles R. Drew Postgraduate Medical School; and

WHEREAS, In 1998, the National Trust for Historic Preservation designated Historically Black Colleges and Universities nationwide as one of the nation’s 11 most endangered historic sites. Created in 1988, the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Historic Preservation Program helps to preserve our nation’s diverse history and contributions of Historically Black Colleges and Universities for future generations; and

WHEREAS, Congress first authorized grants to Historically Black Colleges and Universities for historic preservation in 1996. In 2003, Congress expanded the program and authorized $10 million annually for five years. Last month, the House passed legislation to extend that authorization at the same level for an additional seven years. These historic preservation grants have had transformative effects on Historically Black College and University campuses across the country; and

WHEREAS, A designation as a Historically Black College and University by the National Trust for Historic Preservation would make Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science eligible to qualify for greater levels of federal support; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, That the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science is of historical significance relative to the migration of African Americans to southern Los Angeles and the Watts Rebellion; and be it further

Resolved, That the Senate finds and declares the activities of the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science provide a valuable service to the people of California and to the residents of Los Angeles and specifically to the African American and Latino community where the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science is located; and be it further

Resolved, That the Senate urges recognition of Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science as a Historically Black College and University by the National Trust for Historic Preservation; and be it further

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the President of the United States, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Majority Leader of the Senate, to each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the United States and to the author for appropriate distribution.