Two Alameda County Health Clinics Close Amid Budget Woes
Alameda County Medical Center's Fairmont Hospital in San Leandro and Central Health Center in Oakland closed on Friday after Alameda County Judge Steven Brick on Thursday denied a "last-ditch attempt" by Disability Rights Advocates and Bay Area Legal Aid to block the closures, the San Francisco Chronicle reports (San Francisco Chronicle, 6/28). Earlier this month, the two advocacy groups filed a lawsuit to stop the scheduled June 30 closure of the health clinics, which serve about 25,000 people. Disability Rights Advocates and Bay Area Legal Aid filed the suit against the county because they maintain that the county would violate its legal obligation to provide medical services to indigent residents if it closes the clinics. The medical center is independent of Alameda County but contracts with the county to provide health care to low-income residents (California Healthline, 6/18). Medical center officials expect the closures to save the county about $4 million annually, the Oakland Tribune reports (Vesely, Oakland Tribune, 6/28).
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