L.A. has a serious health care crisis
2.5 million people in Los Angles County do not have health insurance. 80% of them work. That’s right, they work, and still can not afford insurance.
In 1985 LA County’s trauma network had 22 hospitals. Today, only thirteen remain. Several are in serious danger of being closed. This includes emergency rooms. In addition, well over one hundred public clinics have shut in the past seven years. Many private clinics that receive some public funding have closed too.
Now, some major -hospitals- may close.
Why the closings? The County says they literally can’t afford to keep them open. This is no doubt true. Many culprits here. Federal funding being cut. Inept attempts to get that same funding. Inefficiencies in the hospitals. Other reasons too.
Harbor-UCLA hospital is the only Level 1 Trauma Center in LA County, and it may be closed! Put it this way, remember the man the sniper shot at the Ponderosa? He lived because there was a Level 1 Trauma Center nearby staffed by superbly skilled MD’s.
If you live in LA, vote Yes on Measure B on Nov. 5. It will provide some but by no means all of the needed funds. It has to pass by 2/3’s – a high bar indeed. If it does pass, we still have a health crisis – and a bit of breathing room. If it doesn’t pass, well, no Level 1 Trauma Center in a County of 10 million people will just be the start of the slide down.