Health Services Face Possible Cutbacks in San Francisco, San Diego and Ventura County Budget Plans

With the end of the fiscal year approaching, a number of localities are beginning the budget process for the next fiscal year. Details of health-related budget proposals in San Francisco, San Diego County and Ventura County appear below.

• San Francisco: Mayor Willie Brown (D) yesterday presented a $4.9 billion spending plan to the Board of Supervisors that is about $300 million less than the current spending plan, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. To account for the difference, the budget would cut housing subsidies for low-income AIDS patients, eliminate 41 housekeeping positions at Laguna Honda Hospital and discontinue paid time off for home health care workers. The plan now moves to the Board of Supervisors for consideration (Gordon, San Francisco Chronicle, 6/4).
  
• San Diego County: County officials have drafted a $3.8 billion spending plan for the next fiscal year, but it remains uncertain how Gov. Gray Davis' (D) revised FY 2002-2003 budget proposal will impact the county's finances. Davis' plan would cut $75 million from various health programs in the county. If those changes are approved by the Legislature, spending would be cut from programs that administer Medicare, food stamps and in-home medical services (Monteagudo, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6/3).
  
• Ventura County: The Ventura County Behavioral Health Department would "take the brunt" of cuts in a preliminary budget proposal written by the Ventura County Board of Supervisors, the Ventura County Star reports. Under the proposed budget, the department would close a clinic in Port Hueneme, "cu[t] hospital stays short for severely mentally ill people" and "los[e] funding for increased housing proposals." The supervisors are expected to set a final hearing on the budget proposal for June 17 (Levin, Ventura County Star, 5/31).