Protest Assails AIDS Care at County-USC

Ron Rose couldn’t breathe. So the 37-year-old went to the outpatient clinic at County-USC Medical Center, where he sees a doctor every two weeks for AIDS treatment. But his doctor wasn’t there on that recent Tuesday. After waiting several hours, he said he was misdiagnosed and prescribed an antibiotic to which he was allergic.

Rose broke into a rash in reaction and again became flushed as he recalled the incident Saturday in front of the medical center. A crowd of 150 people cheered him on, as well as several other speakers who lambasted the county for what they called its inadequate response to the AIDS epidemic in Los Angeles.

Behind him, a large backdrop read: “Welcome to AIDS care in Los Angeles County. Proposed available beds--20. AIDS cases in L.A. County--6,240.”

Candlelight Protest

After dark, the demonstrators held candles and called out the names of friends who have died of the disease. And for the next week some of them plan to stay camped in front of the medical center, where about a third of the county-treated AIDS patients go for care.

With an average of 50 to 60 AIDS patients hospitalized at County-USC at any one time, the activists argued that plans to open an AIDS ward with 20 beds in the fall is far short of what is needed. It’s too little, too late, they said.

“This is absolutely ridiculous,” said Enric Morello, a longtime member of ACT/UP, which organized the protest. “We want good quality health care.”

They called for a 50-bed AIDS ward within six months and one twice that size in a year; a doubling of resources for the County-USC outpatient clinics; the provision of county health care at the same level available in private hospitals, and a comprehensive program for treatment of people with AIDS and training of medical personnel.

A county panel Friday made some recommendations along those lines. The Los Angeles County Commission on AIDS recommended that the county encourage private hospitals to set up AIDS-dedicated wards, as well as increase inpatient care at County-USC.

The county has two AIDS outpatient clinics--one of which is only open one day a week.

Advocates said they don’t blame the hospital or the doctors--they do the best they can with what they have--but criticize the county for not increasing the $32 million it is spending this year on all its AIDS programs.

Dawson Oppenheimer, an aide to Supervisor Mike Antonovich, said the county doesn’t have enough money for expanded AIDS services.

The protesters also contended that to the extent the county has responded, it has been slowly and only after much prodding.

“It’s not about the sweats that wake you up at night,” activist Chris Brownlie said, his voice rising in pitch. “It’s not about the cough that won’t go away; it’s not about the headaches that make you throw up constantly. . . . It’s about caring. . . . The policy of the county government of L.A. is about not caring; we’re going to make them care.”

With the second-largest reported number of AIDS cases, the protesters said, Los Angeles sorely fails to provide the level of care of New York and San Francisco, which established a 20-bed AIDS ward more than five years ago.

More than a dozen community groups--including AIDS Project Los Angeles, AIDS Hospice Foundation and the California Nurses Assn.--participated in the protest.

That the county isn’t doing better after the epidemic was clearly identified six years ago is shameful, said Randy Wendelin, who has been treated for AIDS at the medical center.

“They haven’t seemed to have adapted well at all,” he said.