Judge Refuses to Block Cuts in Patient Services for Poor

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge Monday refused for the time being to block the county Board of Supervisors from cutting back outpatient services to the poor at five county-run hospitals.

Rejecting a request by legal aid attorneys for a temporary restraining order, Judge David P. Yaffe ruled that special legislation enacted during the state’s recent budget crisis allows counties to reduce health services in response to state funding cutbacks.

Legal aid attorneys said they may return to court as early as today to challenge the constitutionality of the legislation. They hope to force supervisors to restore $7.6 million to fund the clinics.

Last week, the supervisors ordered an immediate reduction in outpatient services at five hospitals, forcing patients to wait longer for treatment. Supervisors said the reduction was necessitated by the cutbacks in state aid.

Byron Gross of the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles said the cuts will eliminate 138,000 patient visits to outpatient clinics, which serve about 1.5 million indigent people a year. Gross said the cuts will put patients at risk by delaying for up to several months their visits to the clinics.

At County-USC Medical Center, the walk-in clinic, which usually sees 250 patients a day, has been turning away people after the first 100 arrive, said Irving Cohen, the county’s assistant health director for administration.

Patients in need of immediate attention are seen. Others are handed a list of county-operated neighborhood health clinics where they can seek treatment.