Protesters Urge Public to Help Keep Mid-Valley Clinic Open

For at least one of the sidewalk protesters outside Mid-Valley Health Center Tuesday, the threatened closure of the facility represents a bad case of “deja vu.”

“I’ve been through this at five other clinics in the past eight years,” said Violet Hall, a 54-year-old dental assistant. “It gets a little bit sickening after a while.”

Hall previously worked at county dental clinics in Valencia, Burbank, Glendale, San Fernando and Pacoima. When one closed due to budget cuts, she moved on to another. But if Mid-Valley closes as scheduled on Sept. 1, the nearest surviving clinic will be in East Los Angeles too far for Hall.

“I’ll have to quit because I can’t drive (there),” said the Canyon Country resident.

Hall was one of about 50 Mid-Valley workers who spent their lunch breaks Tuesday on Van Nuys Boulevard, waving “Save the Clinics” signs at passing traffic and handing cards to patients that gave the address and phone number of County Supervisor Ed Edelman. Similar protests took place Tuesday at other endangered county health facilities.

“We want to make the community aware that this could happen,” said Judy Mahoney, a shop steward at Mid-Valley for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). “A lot of people don’t know what’s going on. They don’t know (Mid-Valley) is going to close.”

Under the county’s $13.5-billion budget approved last week by the Board of Supervisors, public health was cut by $100 million, threatening the closure of four comprehensive health centers and as many as 29 of 41 community clinics. They will close Sept. 1 unless the state Legislature relaxes a complex matching-fund arrangement and releases $76 million already earmarked for the county.

In addition to Mid-Valley, San Fernando Valley casualties would include smaller clinics in Pacoima, Tujunga and Burbank. Those facilities handled 150,000 patient visits last year. According to Mahoney, Mid-Valley alone handled 93,000 between June, 1992, and this June.

The Van Nuys center offers free services ranging from prenatal care to communicable disease control. Staff members protesting Tuesday warned that closure could have dire consequences for indigent patients. “The impact may not be catastrophic, but it will be close to catastrophic,” said Dr. Sue Cheung, a pediatrician at Mid-Valley. “A lot of our patients have no insurance and no money. This is the only place they can go.”

Sandra Crockett, a Panorama City resident waiting to take her two young sons for a checkup at the center, said she was devastated when she heard about the threatened closure from a staff member. “The first thing I did was ask the lady where I could go. She said, ‘A private doctor.’ But they don’t accept the medical coverage I have.”

The cuts would affect 48 health care staff at Mid-Valley who would either be laid off or reassigned depending on seniority. “We’re all really nervous,” Mahoney said. “We don’t know where we will be going.”

In Violet Hall’s case, her stress just gets worse. “I’m a diabetic and my blood sugar keeps getting higher and higher every time one of these things happens,” she said of her experience with clinic closures. “I pray to God every night they save this one,” she added.