JUDGE PROTECTS REHAB FACILITY SUPERVISORS WARN OF COUNTY BANKRUPTCY.Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order temporary restraining order: see injunction. Tuesday preventing Los Angeles County from reducing services at Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center is a rehabilitation hospital located in Downey, California, United States. History Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center, or Rancho . U.S. District Court Judge Florence-Marie Cooper is expected to decide next week whether to issue a preliminary injunction A temporary order made by a court at the request of one party that prevents the other party from pursuing a particular course of conduct until the conclusion of a trial on the merits. A preliminary injunction is regarded as extraordinary relief. barring the county from closing the facility until it can prove that disabled Medi-Cal patients could obtain comparable care elsewhere. The order is the result of a class-action lawsuit filed by four public-interest law firms and one private law firm seeking to keep Rancho Los Amigos AMIGOS Advanced Mobile Integration in General Operating Systems open. Because the county was already taking steps to discourage people from seeking care at Rancho Los Amigos, and has been turning people away in preparation for closing June 30, the law firms sought the temporary restraining order. Cooper wrote that unless she issued the restraining order, Rancho Los Amigos patients would suffer irreparable injury. ``After due consideration, the court has also concluded that there is a very strong likelihood that the plaintiffs will prevail at trial on the merits on the merits adj. referring to a judgment, decision or ruling of a court based upon the facts presented in evidence and the law applied to that evidence. A judge decides a case "on the merits" when he/she bases the decision on the fundamental issues and considers of the claims in their complaint,'' Cooper wrote. Rancho Los Amigos is one of the top 10 rehabilitation hospitals in the nation, serving more than 9,500 disabled patients a year. Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said the county was scheduled to begin downsizing (1) Converting mainframe and mini-based systems to client/server LANs. (2) To reduce equipment and associated costs by switching to a less-expensive system. (jargon) downsizing Rancho Los Amigos on Thursday so he was not surprised by her ruling. He added that if Cooper issues the preliminary injunction, it would have ``ominous implications for the county.'' ``We don't have the funds to keep six hospitals and all of our clinics open,'' Yaroslavsky said. The ruling came after hundreds of protesters packed the Board of Supervisors' meeting room Tuesday to fight the proposed closure of Rancho Los Amigos, as well as the elimination of 100 beds at County/USC Medical Center and the conversion of High Desert Hospital in Lancaster to an outpatient clinic. Yaroslavsky said he's concerned that keeping Rancho Los Amigos open - combined with the county's expected $804 million budget shortfall next fiscal year - could force the county into bankruptcy. ``We can go bankrupt,'' Yaroslavsky said. ``This is the end of the food chain. When the feds cut allocations to the states and the state faces a $35 billion deficit and makes cuts on our backs On Our Backs (ISSN 0890-2224) was the first women-run erotica magazine and the first magazine to feature lesbian erotica for a lesbian audience in the United States. , there is nowhere left to turn.'' 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 pointed out that Cooper was appointed by President Bill Clinton. Antonovich said that her ruling was a ``political decision'' because she has failed to realize that the county can provide only the health services the federal and state governments provide funds for. ``This decision, if upheld, would sink the county of Los Angeles,'' Antonovich said. ``The alternative of implementing this court order could force the county into bankruptcy, which would impact our ability to provide vital services, specifically public safety to the citizens of Los Angeles County.'' CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Protesters call for the county Board of Supervisors The examples and perspective in this article or section may represent an unduly geographically limited view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. The Board of Supervisors is the body governing counties in the U.S. to maintain services at High Desert Hospital in Lancaster and Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center in Downey. John McCoy/Staff Photographer |
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