Health Cutbacks of $55.7 Million Proposed if State Aid Falls Short

Dozens of pediatric facilities, outpatient health centers and family planning clinics would be closed as a result of $55.7 million in cuts proposed Tuesday by Los Angeles County health officials to offset anticipated losses in state revenue.

The cuts would be made only if state funds cannot be found to bail out the health care programs, officials said.

In recommendations to the Board of Supervisors, the Department of Health Services proposed $25 million in reductions at County-USC Medical Center, $6.6 million at Olive View Medical Center and reductions totaling $10.1 million at Harbor/UCLA Medical Center and Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center.

In addition, health officials recommended slashing $4.9 million from family planning, $3.6 million from comprehensive health centers, $4.1 million from other health clinics and $1.4 million from other services.

In his report to the board, Health Director Robert Gates traced the budget problems to a proposal by Gov. George Deukmejian cutting the county’s current allocation for medically indigent patients from $204.2 million to $56.2 million. Although some of that revenue will be made up from other state sources, Gates said that total is expected to fall far short of what the county needs.

“In considering the necessity for service reductions totaling $55.7 million, it must be recognized that (the department) will still be left with a remaining operating budget sufficient to meet only minimally acceptable levels of health care practice,” he told the supervisors.

Specifically, Gates recommended:

* Closure of pediatric facilities and a reduction of general health services at the County-USC Medical Center and Women’s Hospital. As a result, all non-communicable disease and emergency room services at the Pediatric Pavilion would be eliminated and other services cut after Sept. 1.

* Reduction of outpatient clinic services at Harbor/UCLA Medical Center. These program cuts would affect 2,774 patients a month and would begin July 1, health officials said.

* Elimination of acute outpatient care at Rancho Los Amigos Medical Center in Downey. Nearly 1,800 people a month now use the services, and the change would mean patients would be forced to rely on other county facilities and other health providers after Sept. 1, officials said.

* Drastic cuts in services at public health centers throughout the county. Current patients, many of whom are low-income minorities, now rely on such centers for immunizations, prenatal care, pediatric services and AIDS testing. Under the planned cuts, more than 24,600 people would be affected.

“To the extent we can, we’ve tried to focus on elective kinds of health services, although we provide very little truly elective services,” Gates told The Times.

“We desperately need an infusion of money, hard money,” he said.

The supervisors set a June 12 public hearing date to comply with the Bielenson Act. That state law requires supervisors to hold a public hearing to assess the impact of the proposed health care cuts on the county’s poor. Gates said that $36.2 million of the planned $55.7 million in proposed cuts would fall under the Bielenson statute.

“I don’t think health services should be cut, and hopefully, we won’t have to cut,” said board Chairman Ed Edelman. “But if we can’t get the state to help us, this gives us one of the options.”