JUDGE PROTECTS REHAB FACILITY SUPERVISORS WARN OF COUNTY BANKRUPTCY.

Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer

A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order Tuesday preventing Los Angeles County from reducing services at Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center.

U.S. District Court Judge Florence-Marie Cooper is expected to decide next week whether to issue a preliminary injunction 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 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 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 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, there is nowhere left to turn.''

Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich 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.''

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Protesters call for the county Board of Supervisors to maintain services at High Desert Hospital in Lancaster and Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center in Downey.

John McCoy/Staff Photographer