Outpatient Care

* As physicians at the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, we are outraged at the proposed cutbacks in outpatient care to those who need those services the most. In a recent survey that we conducted in the ophthalmology clinics from Aug. 28 to Sept. 1 with more than 400 patients, we found that over 50% did not know where they would find appropriate care, 10% of patients stated that they would use emergency room services and 10% would not seek ophthalmic care.

In a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine the effects of the 1982 termination of MediCal benefits in California for 270,000 medically indigent adults were described. Six months after termination there was a significant deterioration in patients’ satisfaction and most importantly their health status, notably an increase in uncontrolled hypertension associated with an increased relative risk of dying by 40%.

We believe that the proposed cuts in outpatient services at County-USC and at other county facilities would cause a significant decrease in the health status of our patients and would affect the general population by strangulating emergency room departments. We urge the public to contact their Los Angeles County supervisors and other representatives to reconsider or at least delay these drastic cuts.

JEFFREY L. MARX MD

GALEN G. GRAYSON MD

Los Angeles