CHILDREN'S CLINIC SET FOR SATURDAY.

Byline: Susan Abram Staff Writer

BURBANK - A health clinic offering free immunizations, tuberculosis screenings and hearing and vision exams will be offered Saturday for children returning to school.

The clinic is part of an effort to fill a medical void as the county-sponsored Burbank Health Center pares back its services in preparation for closing its doors on Oct. 1.

Nurses and volunteers from Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center, which is providing the service, will be at the clinic from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at William McKinley Elementary School, 349 W. Valencia Ave., in Burbank.

The event is intended for Burbank families who may have been turned away at the Burbank Health Center or have not yet received all their shots, including hepatitis B vaccines, which are mandated for all schoolchildren entering the seventh grade.

Physicians from the hospital will also provide free physical examinations to children who have no health insurance.

``A lot of the families in Burbank relied on the health clinic for their children's school shots,'' said Ron Sorensen, director of Community Outreach for Providence Saint Joseph. ``We are working with the county and the school district, so at least this is another resource parents can turn to.''

The county is providing a mobile unit and the serum for the vaccinations, Sorensen said.

About 400 doses are expected to be given on Saturday, he said. Parents are asked to bring their children's immunization records. Last year, 200 students from Burroughs High School were referred to the Burbank Health Center, health officials said.

As part of countywide plans to close an $800 million budget deficit, more than a dozen local clinics, such as the one in Burbank and at schools, will close at the end of this month.

About 7,000 residents a year have come to depend on the 50-year-old clinic on Magnolia Boulevard. Many of them are uninsured and do not have reliable transportation.

``We've slowly stopped providing immunizations so our nurses can concentrate on placing patients at other clinics,'' said Dr. Elice Pomerance, the Burbank clinic's lead physician.

Already, a sign hanging on the clinic's front door states that no new patients can be seen.

``Eventually, we will have to stop taking walk-ins, too,'' Pomerance said. ``It's not that we want to turn anyone away. It's just that unless they have a problem that can be treated right then, there's no use for them to become regular patient here.''

Pomerance and her staff of 30 are all being transferred to other facilities. Pomerance will work at the Glendale clinic and her patients are coming with her, she said. But some residents likely will have to travel far for health care, since nearby clinics such as Mid-Valley and San Fernando are booked with new appointments and the North Hollywood clinic also will close at the end of this month.

The last time the clinic faced closure was in 1999, but at the last minute former President Clinton provided about $2 billion in bailout funds that helped keep the clinic open.

That likely will not happen again, Pomerance predicted.

``It's horrible,'' Pomerance said of what her patients may have to go through. ``There's already talk of creating long waiting lists.''