Community members, staff and local officials dedicated a gleaming new Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital on Aug. 7.

Raising funds to open the hospital wasn’t easy, but planners found a solution in a unique public, private and academic partnership, said Manuel Abascal, chairman of the hospital board.

“It hadn’t been done before, but we did it, and it works,” he said at the ceremony.

The facility is managed by an independent, nonprofit governing authority. Los Angeles County is the hospital’s prime financial backer, and has invested $284 million for its construction. UCLA is the third partner—and contributes medical staff.

The facility offers 131 beds—making it about a third the size of the old King/Drew hospital that closed in 2007. MLK offers an expanded range of services on the 42-acre campus, however—including a mental health urgent-care unit, outpatient clinic and public health center. Its overall concept emphasizes prevention and education in an effort to keep hospital and emergency room traffic down.

A recuperative care center for homeless patients is scheduled to open by the end of the year.

Close to 14,000 applications were received for 650 hospital positions, CEO Dr. Elaine Batchlor noted at last Friday’s dedication.

Making the hospital a reality required a supreme cooperative effort as it sits in a part of Los Angeles “that has few material resources,” Batchlor explained.