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by Andrew DellaRocca/PNN Community Journalist
There isn't much that I really know about LA county. I mean, everybody
knows a little something. Whether you are from South Africa, Bangladesh, or
upstate New York, you've probably seen at least one movie made in Hollywood,
if not a thousand. Folks here in the Bay Area treat LA as a rival. They'll
tell you how tough it is to get around in LA (in contrast to the luxurious
Muni system), they'll tell you about the disgusting necessity of needing a
car to do anything, they'll tell you about the smog that you'll breath,
about the superficial schmoozing you'll see, about the traffic, about the
traffic, about the traffic.
At least that's what they've thus far told me. I don't know if its true.
I've never been to LA.
But, when I heard about the proposed closure of various medical clinics and
hospitals throughout the LA region, and was told to look into it and write a
report on it, I knew that this indeed would be a disadvantage for LA. My
heart, however, did not swell up with pride because I live in San Francisco.
I was not gratified by the fact that we could mock our southern neighbor
for but one more disadvantage. I thought about the folks that would be
affected by these closures, the people who live in LA who have come to rely
on the county health system. How many options were going to be left for
them?
The LA county health system
has found itself in close to a one billion dollar debt, and seeks a federal
bailout similar to the one that saved LA's hospitals in the mid 1990's. In
order to prove to the federal government that they are willing to make
difficult decisions in times of crisis, the county has proposed a series of
cuts, one of which threatens the enormous Harbor-UCLA medical center in
Torrance, which serves the poor and uninsured in most of southern Los
Angeles county.
"We assume that the county will make a decision to show that they mean
business," said Dr. Robert Hockberger, chairman of the emergency medical
department.
Harbor UCLA last year treated about 75,000 patients in its emergency room.
Most of the patients were poor, and without health insurance.
"We provide trauma care for everybody, all medical care for the working
poor. Where will they go if Harbor closes?" Dr. Hockberger asked when I
spoke with him over the telephone. "They can't go to private hospitals, the
private hospitals don't want them."
If the cuts go through, the only public hospitals left in LA county will be
County USC and King Drew in East Los Angeles, as well as a few scattered
clinics throughout the county. Poor folk will be left with few options.
The federal government has invited both the state and county governments to
Washington to discuss a possible bailout. However, the state refuses to sit
down with the county, a condition of the Washington talks, until the county
rolls back the cuts. The county needs to make the cuts to keep Washington
interested, but because of doing so the state has chosen to keep out.
"It's sort of circular, and frustratingly so," said Dr. Hockberger.
I asked the doctor what people could do to help.
"What local people (in LA) could do is to understand that when proposals
come forward to add taxes on property or sales, to not automatically vote
against them. The whole county really has to cooperate, and that includes
me. People could also make phone calls to the county board of supervisors
and the state government, urging them to sit down and talk."
I hung up the telephone slightly more educated about not just the economic,
but the political games that go into determining the welfare of our
population. And although I've never been to LA, I feel for those who are
being subjected to the heavy tide of the market, and to the budget politics
which may determine the extent of their well-being.
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