COUNTY HEALTH CARE AT A GLANCE

Personnel: An estimated 3,837 licensed medical doctors provide health care services to Orange County’s 2.19 million residents, according to the Health Care Task Force of United Way of Orange County. That’s one doctor for every 572 residents. About 20,000 nurses provide the bulk of direct patient care.

Facilities: The county has 43 hospitals, 37 general acute care hospitals and six psychiatric hospitals with 7,568 licensed beds. By comparison, San Diego County, with a population of 2.24 million, has 38 hospitals with 7,605 beds. In Orange County, health services are also provided at 21 licensed community clinics, two free clinics, a psychology clinic, two surgery clinics and six chronic dialysis clinics, regarded as adjunct facilities for the poor. There are no licensed rehabilitation, employee or multispecialty clinics in the county. According to 1985 statistical data, 32 home health agencies provided 27,922 patients with skilled nursing and other related therapeutic services through 408,802 home visits. Through May, 436 known cases of acquired immune deficiency syndrome have been reported in Orange County, and 2,420 cases are expected by 1991. The AIDS virus can take six to 12 years to show symptoms, and AIDS patients now occupy 3% to 6% of hospital beds.

Long-Term Care: There are 6,978 licensed beds at facilities providing skilled nursing, intermediate care, developmentally disabled and disabled habilitative services. Nine out of 10 patients are older than 65, and about three of every four are admitted from hospitals.

Benefits: Although Medicare provides basic health care services to the elderly, the program covers just 38% of health expenditures incurred by the county’s 300,000 elderly people. About 102,800 people are eligible in Orange County for MediCal and federal-state funded health services. In 1986, a monthly average of 59,200 people used MediCal services costing $20.2 million. Medically indigent adults are eligible to receive health care through Indigent Medical Services, a program funded by the state and administered by the county. Among those eligible in Orange County, 29% are members of minority groups and 49% earn less than $200 a month. About 7,300 people a month receive basic health care, mental health and drug abuse services. Forty-three percent of IMS recipients are in the 21 to 34 age group; 37% are single men, and 34% are single women.