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: 

The media joined dozens of community members, nurses and Glendale residents at the community forum about the Glendale Health Center and Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich's proposal to privatize the clinic Feb. 20.

Here's some of the coverage:

Health center may go private
Glendale News Press 
Nurses, union members and community activists attended a community forum Saturday to hear about the fate of Glendale Health Center, a mostly primary care facility with a staff capable of speaking six languages.

Forum Shines Spotlight on Plan to Privatize Glendale Health Center
Asbarez Armenian News
Bob Schoonover, President of SEIU Local 721--the union representing many of the health care workers at GHC--spoke at the forum about the shrouded nature of the privatization plan.

The Ararat Beez
By Senior Editor
The Armenian Youth Federation joined together with SEIU Local 721 to bring the issue directly before the community and into the public's awareness.

Horizon Television was also there. Watch the video:

Supervisor Michael Antonovich proposed a plan that would effectively close the Glendale Health Center and eliminate basic medical attention for thousands.

In these difficult economic times, more and more families rely on public health services, but Supervisor Antonovich wants to close the Glendale Health Center, which would drastically impact health care access for you, your family and our community.

Join concerned Glendale residents and health care workers for a community forum on what the County's plan for Glendale Health Center would really mean for the community. Together, we will discuss how we can stop the Supervisor's misguided plan and improve health care services that meet our needs.

Community Forum on Glendale Health Center
Saturday, February 20, 2010
10:00am to 11:30am
United Community Church
401 E. Colorado Street (across from main church)
Glendale, CA 91205
Contact Michelle Salas at (213) 447-3252
Click here to RSVP

Before the forum, make your voice heard!
Don't let Supervisor Antonovich move forward without our voices being heard. Together we can send a strong message and improve health services for our community. Join us at the community forum or write a letter the LA County Board of Supervisors by clicking here: http://721.seiu.org/glendalehealth.

LOS ANGELES - Health care providers from the county-run Glendale Health Center opposed the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors' misguided attempt to privatize the clinic last Tuesday, January 19.

Workers and their supporters spoke in support of the Health Center and screened a movie (above) demonstrating the extra cost such a move will have on the community.

The movie features interviews with Glendale Mayor Frank Quintero, LA City councilmember Paul Krekorian, Health Center staff and patients and details the negative effects closing the clinic would have on patients:

"Many are quite concerned because this is an established clinic that has been here for many years...and they've begun to cut services... (We) have a population that needs the medical care that this clinic provides."
-Frank Quintero, Mayor of Glendale

"(The patients) have developed long-term relationships of trust with their caregivers. I have deep concerns that if this Health Center were privatized those relationships would change...That would be a significant loss for access to health care not just for Glendale, but for people in the surrounding areas too."
-Paul Krekorian, Los Angeles City Council

"We are very close to patients, they are like our family and we have a history with them so we can take care of them better and more efficiently."
-Kyoung Bak, Registered Nurse, Glendale Health Center

Supervisor Michael Antonovich directed the County of Los Angeles Department of Health Services to assess the viability of privatizing Glendale Health Center (GHC), a small county-run clinic in the Fifth Supervisorial District in 2008. Through detailed analysis SEIU 721 has demonstrated that privatizing GHC is not cost effective and would instead destabilize both patient care and other surrounding medical providers.

Snapshot of Glendale Health Center:
•    GHC has about 3,500 patients, mostly medically-underserved Armenian,  Farsi, Spanish, and Tagalog speakers
•    82 percent are uninsured and more than half are classified as elderly

Registered Nurse, Marie Hernandez delivered testimony to the LA County Board of Supervisors urging them to reconsider the privatization of Glendale Health Center and to work with workers on expanding health care access to Glendale residents. Her statement follows:

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."

Congressman Adam Schiff wrote a letter to Supervisor Antonovich in support of keeping Glendale Health Center public. The following is the full script of that letter.

Dear Supervisor Antonovich,

I am writing to express my interest in ensuring that the residents of Glendale continue to have access to the staff and services of the County's Glendale Health Center.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is currently considering a move to privatize Glendale Health Center under the premise that doing so could prove more cost-effective and efficient. Unbeknownst to the public are the hidden and wasted costs of handing over a clinic to a private agency.

Glendale Health Center is one of LA County's most successful primary care clinics, drawing thousands of first-generation immigrants and seniors who have long-standing relationships with the clinic's staff. Now clients and health care staff fear that community could be at risk.