Director Hopes to Close Up to 4 Mental Clinics

Mental Health Director Roberto Quiroz said Thursday that he hopes to proceed with the shutdown of as many as half of Los Angeles County’s eight threatened outpatient clinics despite a recent state Supreme Court ruling that delayed the scheduled closings.

The county-run psychiatric clinics, which once served nearly 10,000 mentally ill patients, have been in limbo since last summer when county Department of Mental Health officials first announced that they would close as part of a budget-slashing move.

County officials were barred from closing the clinics--and from firing or demoting more than 350 workers--after a Superior Court judge issued a preliminary injunction last August. A state Court of Appeal ruling subsequently overturned the injunction, but the state Supreme Court declared last month that the injunction was still in effect until the high court could review and rule on the case.

Quiroz, however, said Thursday that he still intends to close some outpatient centers as part of “a consolidation plan” because the clinics have already lost a substantial number of workers and patients.

“We’re targeting about half the clinics,” said Quiroz, who added that he will ask the Board of Supervisors next week for the authority to close them.

Board chairman Ed Edelman, who is in Washington with three other county su pervisors meeting local congressional members and Bush Administration officials, expressed initial skepticism about the Quiroz proposal. “I’d have to see precisely what he’s talking about, but I take a dim view of that (plan),” Edelman said.

But Quiroz defended his proposal.

‘Temporary Situation’

“I think that’s the only way we can survive,” Quiroz said. “The Supreme Court action is just continuing a temporary situation that has not worked. Somewhere along the line reasonableness has to prevail.”

Quiroz would not identify the specific clinics slated for closing, and Francis Dowling, the department’s chief deputy director, said that although there have been suggestions, no decision will be made until today. “It’s not going to be final until the 11th hour,” he said.

Quiroz’s insistence on closing clinics drew an immediate protest from Legal Aid attorneys who had petitioned the state Supreme Court to block the closings. “Clearly, the county would be defying the courts,” said Jim Carroll, executive director of San Fernando Valley Neighborhood Legal Services Inc. “The fact that they have allowed the clinics to be decimated is defying the court, and we’re not going to stand by and let them violate the order and jeopardize our clients.”

Steven Carnevale, principal deputy county counsel, said Thursday that if the supervisors were to grant Quiroz’s request, they would not be defying the high court or risking a contempt citation.

‘Beyond Control’

“Generally, a violation of a court order needs to be willful to justify a contempt citation,” Carnevale said. “But if you don’t have staff, the situation is beyond your control. And you may have a more efficient and optimal service with the consolidation.”

According to mental health officials, the number of patients at the eight clinics had dwindled to 3,828--about a third the usual number--by Feb. 27, the day the closings were to have occurred. At the same time, only about 126 workers remain, a drop of 60% from last summer, county officials said.

Quiroz and other mental health officials, patients and workers are expected to testify today at a scheduled state Senate Health and Human Services Committee hearing in Los Angeles on the proposed mental health cuts.