Daily News, Wednesday, January 30, 2002
County to cut very deep into health system
By Troy Anderson, Staff Writer
With little hope for federal or state aid, Los Angeles County supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to begin the first phase of a plan to cut health services to the poor and uninsured. Supervisor Gloria Molina said federal officials, who have granted $2.2 billion in bailout money since 1995 to keep the health system afloat, have now turned their backs on the county and the $10 million in savings in the first phase of the plan will not make a dent in the $688 million deficit the health department faces by 2005-06.
"I don't think George Bush is going to help us," Molina said. "I don't think he should when our own state Legislature is not helping.
"Los Angeles County has the largest number of indigent patients in the nation, and we're going to have to eat it big time. It's going to bankrupt the county. This is just barely the beginning, and we have to confront this openly."
Under the plan given preliminary approval Tuesday, the health department will move forward with plans to close five health clinics, including ones in Burbank and North Hills; reduce staff in the obstetrics unit at UCLA-Olive View Medical Center in Sylmar; close an inpatient rehabilitation unit at High Desert Hospital; and eliminate 100 administrative positions in the department.
Acting Director of Health Services Fred Leaf is expected to come back before the supervisors on March 19 to make further recommendations to balance the health department's $2.9 billion budget.
By the end of the year, the supervisors expect to choose among several options that could lead to virtually dismantling the public health care system for the area's 3.2 million poor and uninsured people.
Options range from closing county hospitals and clinics and privatizing the system to keeping some hospitals open as a trauma, emergency room and acute care facilities.
By eliminating waste and consolidating duplicate services, Leaf expects the first phase to save $100 million or more.
Depending on how successful the first phase is, Leaf said health officials hope to have recommendations by the end of the year on the type of restructuring needed to balance the budget before the department faces a $365 million deficit in 2003-04.
"The first stage is to implement immediately administrative efficiencies, seeking a more stable and flexible funding stream," Leaf said. "The second stage is designed to reduce the size of the safety net in the event the department is unable to secure a funding stream."
