Facing the tightest budget in seven years, L.A. County’s new health-services director, Thomas Garthwaite, told a skeptical Board of Supervisors this week that he is willing to consider service cuts far beyond the $10 million reduction already approved.But it won‘t be easy to do. In light of strong protests voiced against the $10 million round of shallow budget reductions approved Tuesday, Garthwaite could face a hurricane of opposition if he expects to cut $100 million from the Department of Health Services (DHS) as one supervisor suggested. And that’s not even considering what another supervisor termed the DHS bureaucracy‘s persistent institutional inertia that many believe has hindered seven years of federally mandated attempts to reform the agency.”Usually, I consider myself a proponent of health-care access,“ said 1st District Supervisor Gloria Molina, whose district contains both County-USC Medical Center and one of the county’s largest indigent patient populations. Speaking to Garthwaite during his first public appearance before the board, she said, ”We need to dig deep enough to maintain services that are really needed . . . And we‘re looking to help balance the budget, right?“
Source: The Knife | L.A. Weekly