NPR’s ‘Morning Edition’ Reports on Los Angeles County Health Department Deficit

NPR's "Morning Edition" today reported on proposed "imminent deep cuts" in health services that the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors will consider this week (Baer, "Morning Edition," NPR, 6/26). The county Department of Health Services, which faces an estimated $800 million deficit by 2005, has recommended a proposal that would close 11 health clinics, eliminate school-based medical programs and convert Lancaster-based High Desert Hospital to an outpatient clinic. The proposal would save the county an estimated $158 million by next year, according to health department officials (California Healthline, 6/24). NPR reports that many health care employees and patients have protested the proposed reductions at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, one of the hospitals "threatened with closure." County Health Director Thomas Garthwaite said, "Even before the deficit facing the state, just projecting our needs forward showed that we had a significant imbalance." The full segment is available in RealPlayer Audio online ("Morning Edition," NPR, 6/26).