BOARD TO PRESCRIBE SIZE OF COUNTY/USC HOSPITAL.Byline: Lee Condon Daily News Staff Writer The future of the nation's largest hospital is expected to be decided today as the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is the five member governing board of Los Angeles County, California. Members of the board of supervisors are elected by district, the current members as of April 2006 are:
It's been nearly four years since the Northridge Earthquake caused major damage to County/USC Medical Center in Boyle Heights and more than a year since the federal government confirmed it would kick in almost $500 million for the county to rebuild. Supervisor Gloria Molina, whose district includes the hospital, wants a 750-bed facility. Molina is backed by the county's Department of Health Services Department of Health Services may refer to:
 The Los Angeles City Council is the governing body of the City of Los Angeles, California, United States. , various
medical associations and the county's largest union.
But her colleagues on the board have balked at the idea, noting that other county hospitals all have empty beds and that the county could save money by building a smaller hospital. Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich Michael Dennis Antonovich (born 1939 in Los Angeles, California) is a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors representing the Fifth District, which covers northern Los Angeles County, the Antelope, Santa Clarita, Pasadena, and parts of the San Fernando and San has supported a much smaller hospital with just 391 beds, the number that could be bought with the $498 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is the federal agency responsible for coordinating emergency planning, preparedness, risk reduction, response, and recovery. The agency works closely with state and local governments by funding emergency programs and providing technical funds. Antonovich has recommended that the county contract with private hospitals if there is not enough room at the new County/USC. Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky has consistently supported a new hospital with between 500 and 600 beds, saying the 750-bed proposal is unaffordable un·af·ford·a·ble adj. Too expensive: medical care that has become unaffordable for many. un to build and operate on an annual basis. So far, Molina has not received any support from her colleagues for 750 beds, but she said she nonetheless will argue for that number today. Built in 1928, County/USC Medical Center is one of the county's six public hospitals. The public hospital system is considered the county's health safety net because it provides health care to the county's 2 million uninsured adults and children. Private hospitals in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. normally transfer patients without the ability to pay to either County/USC or to Olive View Medical Center in Sylmar. Paramedics in the eastern section of the Valley, including Burbank and Glendale, frequently transfer emergency patients to County/USC's trauma center. Back in 1990, the supervisors were considering building a 950-bed facility to replace County/USC, which is filling 850 beds a day. But since 1990, there have been some major changes in the way the county's hospital system is run. The county is under the gun from the federal government to downsize Downsize Reducing the size of a company by eliminating workers and/or divisions within the company. Notes: When a company downsizes, it is attempting to find ways to improve efficiency and increase profitability. It is sometimes referred to as trimming the fat. the Department of Health Services by the year 2000 because of longtime overspending that nearly forced the county into bankruptcy in 1995. |
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