The fate of two hospitals tied to UCLA’s Medical School
lies in limbo until at least early February as Los Angeles County
looks for more funding to keep them open.
Today, county supervisors will debate how to split new tax
revenue between public and private hospitals while they seek more
sources of revenue.
Voters approved $168 million in tax increases in November, but
it is not enough to keep Harbor-UCLA and Olive View-UCLA medical
centers open.
“We’re looking at cutting back. We’re not
looking at adding,” said Roxane Marquez, press aide for
county supervisor Gloria Molina.
County officials are seeking more money from state and federal
sources, and some doctors question whether the hospitals can be
closed without a health care crisis.
“They like to threaten to close the hospital but I
don’t think they would close us,” said Dr. Robert
Hockberger, president of the Harbor-UCLA faculty society.
Los Angeles County manages and funds Harbor-UCLA and Olive
View-UCLA, while the university provides some staff.
The arrangement gives UCLA’s School of Medicine a way to let
students gain experience in hospitals that they could not gain
otherwise.
Closing Harbor-UCLA would also disrupt the county’s trauma
system ““ the set of hospitals that deal with serious
accidents.
Harbor-UCLA is the only level I trauma center ““ the type
providing the highest level of care ““ between Los Angeles
Airport and Long Beach Harbor.
“I don’t think the board of supervisors would ever
close one of the hospitals because it would lead to a health care
crisis,” Hockberger said.
Today, county supervisors will discuss how to distribute the
Measure B funds between public hospitals and the 10 private
hospitals that do trauma work, Marquez said.
This money is not enough to prevent hospital closures, but the
debate will delay any vote on whether to close hospitals until Feb.
4, said John Musella, press aide for Supervisor Don Knabe.
Since October, the supervisors have approved several motions to
delay any votes to close hospitals several times.
“One of her (Molina’s) prime concerns is health
care,” Marquez said. “She wants to make sure uninsured
people have a place to go.”
This is one of the reasons why the county has not closed
Harbor-UCLA, though they have discussed closing the hospital
before.
The last time the county was faced with hospital closures, the
federal government provided it with enough money to keep them
open.
The county is currently asking for $1.4 billion to keep
Harbor-UCLA, Olive View-UCLA, County-USC and King View hospitals
open for the long-term, said Resfie Roman, health deputy for
Supervisor Michael Antonovich.
Most of the money would come from the federal government,
Musella said.
The county is also trying to get $250 million from the state,
despite Gov. Gray Davis’ proposal to cut state programs by
$20.6 billion.
Roman said the state wants to give only $150 million, and only
wants to make a two-year commitment.
“There’s going to be a decrease in some levels of
services,” Roman said.
In his budget proposal, Davis suggested shifting a number of
health programs to the counties.
Musella said these are the fastest growing state programs, and
the governor is not providing enough money to keep them running
despite a tax increase.
“He’s pushing off the fastest growing programs
without additional funding and no guarantees,” Musella
said.
Davis has yet to provide specifics about how this program shift
would work.