State Funds Save Torrance, Lawndale Health Centers

Two county health centers in the South Bay slated for closure got a reprieve last week when Gov. Pete Wilson signed legislation that will pump more funds into the Los Angeles County health care system.

The health centers in Torrance and Lawndale were among 24 public-health facilities countywide that were to be shut this fall because of county budget woes.

The legislation will channel $71.8 million into the county’s health care system, saving all the centers for another year.

“We’re very happy,” said William Fujioka, the county official who oversees the Torrance Health Center.

Fujioka said, however, that the legislation allots money only for the 1993-94 fiscal year. Next year could bring a new round of uncertainty for the county health centers, he said.

“Going through this, year after year, is very stressful for folks,” Fujioka said.

Consternation swept through the county’s public-health network in late July when the County Board of Supervisors adopted a budget that slashed $100 million in health-care funds.

Those cuts would have forced the closing of 20 of 39 health centers, including those in Torrance and Lawndale.

In addition, four of the county’s six larger health centers would have been shut, including two centers frequented by South Bay residents--the Long Beach Comprehensive Health Center and the Hubert Humphrey Comprehensive Health Center in Los Angeles.

Preventing diseases or treating them early is a major goal of facilities such as the Torrance Health Center, 2300 W. Carson St.

Of the nearly 27,000 patients treated in 1992-93 at the center, 7,000 were seeking immunizations, primarily for children. Nearly 4,000 patients were treated in a walk-in clinic for mild communicable diseases, and more than 2,000 sought treatment for sexually transmitted diseases.