Supervisors Authorize Two New AIDS Testing Centers in L.A. County

Responding to criticism and a sharp rise in the number of people anxious to learn if they have been exposed to the deadly AIDS virus, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday authorized the opening of two more county AIDS test sites by the end of April.

County Health Director Robert Gates promised the board that the two new sites, one in East Los Angeles and the other in the South-Central area, will be “up and running” by April 30. He added that efforts are under way to add two more testing sites, one in the San Fernando Valley and the other in the San Gabriel Valley, by year’s end.

Gates’ move to open the new public testing sites--which will bring to five the number operating in the county--is apparently in response to recent harsh criticism leveled at the board. AIDS control advocates have assailed the county for not moving quickly enough to accommodate the escalating demand for the blood tests, which now take up to nine weeks to schedule.

Although contending that adding more test locations had been planned before any of the criticism surfaced, Gates only two weeks ago had told Supervisor Deane Dana that the earliest any new sites could open was June 30. Gates said he accelerated the schedule for the two new sites because demand at the Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center in Hollywood had gone on “unabated.”

In addition to the county-run center in Hollywood, two other centers--both run by the City of Long Beach since June, 1985--are inundated and hundreds of people are being turned away each week. Coordinator Tom Dougherty said Tuesday that since mid-February, the number of people being tested in Long Beach has increased from about 100 a week to more than 250. That demand contrasts with about 100 a month at the end of 1986, he added.

Dougherty said that about half of those now seeking tests in Long Beach are from Los Angeles and that an equal percentage are heterosexuals. Last year, only about 10% of the blood tests were administered to heterosexuals, he added.

Supervisor Dana, whose district includes Long Beach, was mildly critical of Gates at the board meeting and urged him to draw up a “comprehensive plan” on how to deal with the growing AIDS crisis. Dana said the state has made $300,000 available to launch new testing whenever the county is ready.

“It seemed to me that Gates was tied up too much with the deficit (facing the county),” Dana said. The county could enter the next fiscal year with a $170-million shortfall, nearly half of which could come from Gates’ department.

But Gates indicated that until recently there was no emergency that required additional testing sites. He said that since the county’s first testing center opened in October, 1985, in response to state legislation, more than 10,000 people have been tested for AIDS anti-bodies at the Hollywood location. Initially, he reported, the demand for testing was high and then fell off during most of 1986.

Gates added, however, that the demand for testing climbed considerably in recent weeks. He traced the surge to statements by AIDS experts at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta urging people in so-called high-risk groups to be tested. A reported increase in the percentage of heterosexuals who have contracted the virus also has triggered a heightened demand for testing, he added.

Considered to be at high risk for contracting the largely sexually transmitted disease are homosexuals, sexually active bisexual males, prostitutes and their customers and intravenous drug users.

The recent demand for testing is so high, Gates said, that the waiting period for an appointment has jumped from one to nine weeks. With the promised opening by April 30 of the two new testing sites--at the Edward C. Roybal Comprehensive Health Center in East Los Angeles and at the Ruth Temple Health Center in South-Central Los Angeles--the county should be able to handle about 150 tests a day, Gates said. He added that he also is trying to boost the testing capacity at the Hollywood site.