County Transfers Head of Troubled AIDS Programs

The director of AIDS programs for the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services will be transferred from his post, just a day after the Board of Supervisors ordered an investigation of deficiencies at county AIDS clinics, officials announced Wednesday.

Health department officials insisted that the transfer of Robert E. Frangenberg was a routine measure, planned weeks in advance. But AIDS activists hailed the action as a victory. On Tuesday, demonstrators had disrupted the meeting of the Board of Supervisors, demanding that the county take action to improve conditions in AIDS clinics.

“It’s been a fight all along with the bureaucracy, and Bob Frangenberg was the bureaucracy’s point man,” said Connie Norman of ACT-UP Los Angeles, an AIDS activist group. “We’ve asked for Frangenberg’s head for four years.”

The supervisors ordered health department Director Robert Gates on Tuesday to immediately examine conditions at the clinics after hearing testimony from AIDS patients and a physician assistant who works at the AIDS facility at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, also known as “5P21.”

AIDS activists charged that staff shortages and poor administrative practices have led to long waits for care at county facilities. Low pay contributed to high turnover among all staff and especially among physician assistants, the activists said.

“While you conduct surveys, anticipate solutions and explore feasibilities, we’re dying,” Norman told the board.

In a report submitted to the Board of Supervisors late Wednesday, Gates recommended alleviating staff shortages by granting physician assistants a 16% pay increase, a move that would cost the county $597,557.

Supervisor Ed Edelman said that while Gates’ report did not address all the problems at AIDS facilities, it was an important first step.

“I am pleased that the department responded, recognizing the crisis and coming up with a plan we hope can correct the problem,” Edelman said. “I’m hopeful the board will implement this pay increase so that we can recruit and retain more doctors and physician assistants.”

But Edelman was also critical of the health department for failing to report the problems at AIDS clinics directly to the Board of Supervisors.

“I am troubled that I only learned about problems at 5P21 . . . from community representatives rather than the county’s own health officials,” he said.

As AIDS programs director, Frangenberg is responsible for coordinating AIDS services to the entire county, although he does not exercise direct administrative control over individual health care units.