The following is the content of an email SEIU 721 President Bob Schoonover sent to community members after receiving a letter from Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich about the Glendale Health Center:
Since Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich proposed privatizing the Glendale Health Center more than a year and a half ago, community leaders and organizations, elected officials in the Glendale area and Health Center staff have drawn attention to the flaws in Anotnovich’s proposal and demonstrated how it will negatively affect the care of thousands of patients, many of whom are elderly.
Recently I received a letter from the Supervisor in which he finally addressed the concerns of Glendale Health Center staff. In the letter dated March 2, 2010 Antonovich wrote:
“I specifically stated that I would not support proceeding with this initiative unless the following conditions are met:
- The care provided must continue to be provided in a manner that recognizes the cultural and linguistic needs of the patient population
- Access to and the quality of care provided to those presently served by the Glendale Health Center must be maintained
- The transition must result in a minimal disruption of services to patients
- The transition of services to a private provider will not result in any layoffs of existing health center staff
- Any privatization must result in significant cost savings and the ongoing operation must be cost effective”
Does the Supervisor actually agree with health care providers and community leaders that his proposal will negatively impact health care for about 3,500 people?
According to the LA County Department of Health Services, the County plans to disrupt patient services at Glendale Health Center and distribute patients among three different clinics that are not necessarily in Glendale.
No single clinic the County is considering has the same language proficiency as Glendale Health Center and many patients at Glendale have already been moved from shuttered clinics in North Hollywood and Burbank. To transfer elderly patients to yet another facility means that many will fall through cracks, some will not be able to travel to a new clinic and others will give up.
The county has not demonstrated that the move to new operators will sustain “access to and quality of care” over time nor has is demonstrated that patients’ critical relationships to their health care provider will not be severed.
It’s time to end this chapter and recognize the quality care, efficiency and value of the current Glendale Health Center.