Community Warns Council of Plans to Limit Health Care at Glendale Health Center

As community concerns rise over Los Angeles County’s plan to privatize Glendale Health Center, patients, clinic staff and residents have made more than one thousand calls to Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich.  A clinic staff member testified before the Glendale City Council, calling on them to adopt a resolution to preserve health services for Glendale residents.
Many are concerned that privatization will prove too costly for prospective bidders.  Arbi Derghokasian, an intermediate clerk at Glendale Health Clinic, warned council members Tuesday that the move to privatize the health center would greatly reduce the care available to the Health Center’s clients. Derghokasian added that agencies bidding to take over the clinic are unlikely to possess the financial ability to shoulder an additional 2,800 uninsured patients.  
There are also doubts that other agencies can deliver culturally competent care.  “Most of Glendale health’s providers, nurses and clerks speak Armenian.  The primary bidder does not employ a single worker who speaks Armenian,” Derghokasian said.  “I know an elderly patient who goes to another hospital to get her prescription refilled. The problem is they don’t provide her translation services and that process is always very difficult for her.”
Glendale City Council members committed to reaching out to Antonovich’s office to gather more information on the issue.
Assembly member Paul Krekorian (AD 43) already sent a letter to Supervisor Antonovich stating that “privatization would likely exacerbate already existing barriers to care” and urged Antonovich to ensure that “all Glendale residents have access to quality, affordable health care.”
Many unanswered questions exist regarding the terms under which a private operator would take over the space. Even the act of renovating the clinic to accommodate a new private health care provider could disrupt services for an indefinite amount of time. “We’re in the middle of a national effort to expand health care coverage for all Americans,” says John Tanner, Executive Director of SEIU Local 721.  “It doesn’t make sense to limit access to quality, culturally appropriate care.”