State Funds Save 3 Health Clinics Serving Poor

Three health clinics that were at risk of closing because of county budget cuts will be spared, thanks to money on its way from state lawmakers, Chief Administrative Officer Harry Hufford said Friday.

An increase in reimbursement rates from Medi-Cal, the state’s health program for the poor, means Ventura County’s public hospital and its clinic system will have at least $1 million in new revenue, Hufford said. That is enough to cover the cost of keeping open the Piru Medical Clinic, the Magnolia Family Health Center in Oxnard and the Sierra Vista Family Medical Center in Simi Valley.

“We’re all jumping around, going, ‘Yes!’ ” said Magnolia’s administrator, Debra Shay, who spent Friday morning calling off a petition drive and protest designed to save the clinic. Magnolia serves about 1,300 patients a month, many of them poor and diabetic Hispanic women with high-risk pregnancies and limited English skills.

The state budget, which was passed Thursday but still faces vetoes by Gov. Gray Davis, also holds promise for the county Sheriff’s Department and Behavioral Health Department. Those departments are bearing the brunt of the remaining $11.4 million in program cutbacks recommended by Hufford in order to balance this year’s budget.

However, the clinic reprieve was the only good news Hufford would guarantee, as he and other county officials continue to explore whether any strings are attached to the other state aid.

County budget planners also are preparing for last-minute pleas from mental health and public safety advocates who may attend a Monday night public budget hearing, scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. at the County Government Center in Ventura. The Board of Supervisors could vote on the budget as early as Tuesday.

At $1.06 billion, the overall county budget is 11.7% higher than last year. But most of that increase is eaten up by inflation and negotiated raises.

Sheriff Bob Brooks, who is being asked to cut $3.5 million, had warned earlier this month that because he had already voluntarily given up $3 million, the newest cutbacks would mean laying off up to 45 deputies and eliminating a program that targets violent gangs.

Behavioral Health Director David Gudeman refused to outline how he would cut $2.6 million from mental health services, because he contends any cuts would be detrimental to the mentally ill. Gudeman instead asked board members to take on the responsibility of deciding where to make the cuts.

Neither Brooks nor Gudeman could be reached Friday, but Undersheriff Craig Husband said the department was optimistic it wouldn’t be hit as hard as originally feared. State lawmakers voted to send as much as $5.5 million in new revenue to the Sheriff’s Department in the coming year. That money is to be used for hiring new deputies and developing programs to treat mentally ill people who have committed crimes.

Because of those requirements, it was unclear how much it would offset the cutbacks sought by Hufford. Husband said none of the $5.5 million from the state was likely to be factored into the county budget, for now.

While that money is not expected to have any bearing on the spending plan that is passed, both the Sheriff’s and the Behavioral Health departments can adjust their budgets later in the year if they receive additional funding.

State lawmakers also have freed up millions of state dollars for grants to help the mentally ill, funding for which the county could apply in the coming year. But county officials said that funding is susceptible to a veto by Davis. In any case, the county can’t count on receiving any of that money, because it is awarded competitively.

Hufford and his staff also were combing the state budget for discretionary funds--money with virtually no strings attached. But Hufford has said he doesn’t expect to find more than $2 million in that sort of last-minute relief.

Meanwhile, the state budget contains funding for several pet projects that don’t help the county with its bottom line but are important to many residents. They include $10 million to get the Cal State University Channel Islands campus near Camarillo up and running, $2 million to improve parking and restrooms at San Buenaventura State Beach and more money for area parks, libraries and police departments.

Although the county has $15.3 million in discretionary revenue from a national settlement with the tobacco industry, Hufford has recommended that supervisors not touch that money. When county officials met with Wall Street analysts and investors earlier this month, they promised not to use that money to help balance the budget.

On top of a years-long trend in overspending, the county has been battered in the last year by a federal investigation into bad Medicare billing and a botched departmental merger, which have cost taxpayers more than $25 million altogether.

This spring, Ventura-based Community Memorial Hospital announced a proposed ballot initiative that would transfer control of the county’s share of the tobacco settlement--$260 million over 25 years--to private hospitals. Faced with the potential loss of that revenue, the county has sued to keep the measure off the November ballot. Hufford said supervisors shouldn’t spend the settlement unless the county prevails in court or the initiative is voted down.