Local News in Brief : 3 Mental Health Clinics Targeted
Los Angeles County mental health officials have earmarked outpatient clinics in Wilmington, North Hollywood and Carson for immediate closures under a curtailment plan that would spare five other psychiatric centers.
In a letter Friday to the Board of Supervisors, Mental Health Director Roberto Quiroz targeted the Coastal Community Mental Health Center, the East San Fernando Valley Mental Health Services and the Wilmington Mental Health Center for closings “as soon as legally permissible.”
County officials had initially planned to close those clinics last summer, along with other mental health programs, but a Superior Court injunction barred the closures. A recent state Supreme Court ruling upheld that injunction, but Quiroz suggested Friday that the county “seek appropriate relief from the court to implement the proposed consolidation plan immediately.”
Quiroz also appeared Friday before the state Senate Health and Human Services Committee in Los Angeles and defended his consolidation plan as necessary because of a dwindling number of clinic patients and workers.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
