October 17, 2003
Marie Martinez
Chief of Fiscal Services
County of Los Angeles
500 W. Temple Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Dear Ms. Martinez:
When my wife was admitted to Olive View Hospital for a hysterectomy, my wife and all members of our family had to produce social security numbers.
When I asked the case worker if everyone who was admitted to Olive View had to produce a social security number, she told me that undocumented patients were exempt from the requirement. I learned that when taking information from undocumented patients, the social security field was filled with zeros (see copy of Medi-Cal document).
By way of this letter, I am requesting the data for the past three years, of the number of births to mothers who, when admitted to county hospitals, could not provide social security numbers and of the number of those mothers who could provide social security numbers. The information I am requesting is raw generic data and is not an invasion of privacy, thus I am entitled to it under the California Public Information Act which requires that you or someone whose job it is, produce the information within 10 days.
Hal Netkin
Lawatchdog.com
POB 3465
Van Nuys, CA 91407
818-989-3043
CC:Zev Yaroslavsky, and other unnamed recipients (Hard Copies and/email)
