November Archives

November 2002

Voters Overwhelmingly Approve Measure B to Rescue County’s Trauma Network and Emergency Response Services – On Election Day, Los Angeles County voters overwhelmingly approved Measure B, sponsored by Board of Supervisors Chairman Zev Yaroslavsky, to support the region’s trauma network and emergency response services. Noting the measure’s commanding margin of 73.2% support across the County, Yaroslavsky said, “It's an incredible statement by the people of Los Angeles County that health care matters. It changes the dynamic of the whole Los Angeles County health care debate." Measure B will levy a Countywide parcel tax on buildings of 3 cents/sq. ft. annually (roughly $43.00 for the average single-family home), with the estimated $168 million annual revenue earmarked exclusively for trauma care, emergency services, and bioterrorism preparedness efforts. The trauma system comprised 22 hospitals in 1985, but numbers only 13 trauma centers today. Click Board Action for further details; click DHS Trauma System to learn more about the trauma care system.

Board Approves Yaroslavsky, Molina Motion to Postpone Further Health Cuts in Wake of Measure B’s Passage – On Tuesday, November 19, 2002, the Board of Supervisors approved a motion by Supervisors Zev Yaroslavsky and Gloria Molina to defer until January 21, 2003 additional budget cuts proposed by the Department of Health Services pending further financial aid discussions with State and Federal representatives and developments in an anticipated Special Session on Health Care to be convened in the State Legislature by Governor Gray Davis. The motion also directs health officials to report back by January 10, 2003 with a fully developed spending plan for trauma and emergency-services utilizing Measure B revenues. On 10/29, the Board approved a health cuts package to begin the process of closing Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center - pending additional analysis also due by January 10, 2003 - and eliminating 50 beds at County-USC Medical Center in the face of a projected annual health budget deficit by 2005.

ben.tif (224241 bytes)

Board of Supervisors Chairman Zev Yaroslavsky (right) is joined by trauma victim Ben Kadish (center) and his father Chuck at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills to express their support for Measure B, the Yaroslavsky proposal to save the region’s trauma care network which voters approved overwhelmingly on Election Day. In August 1999, Ben was shot and seriously wounded by a gunman who opened fire at the North Valley Jewish Community Center. Ben’s life was saved by trauma surgeon Dr. Clarence Sutton and the emergency medicine team at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center, where paramedics brought the boy shortly after the attack. (10/30/02)

State High Court Clears the Way for Hollywood Bowl Shell Replacement Project - On Wednesday, November 13, 2002, the California Supreme Court turned back without comment the final legal challenge to a series of lower court rulings that had upheld longstanding County plans to replace the aging Hollywood Bowl orchestra shell with an aesthetically and acoustically superior new model. Yaroslavsky, whose Third District includes the Bowl, said that he expected the shell replacement project to be underway following the 2003 Bowl summer season, and completed in time for the Bowl's 2004 season. County voters had approved funding for the project in 1996.

Board Votes to Reopen Four School-based Clinics – After an earlier Board vote in June to close them, four school-based clinics - three of them located in the Third District at Kennedy High, Pacoima Elementary and Vaughn Street Elementary - were spared when the Board reversed itself on October 29, 2002 and voted to accept a one-time grant of $200,000 from the L.A. Care Health Plan to reopen them. Health Department officials will seek additional funding to maintain them in the future. Click clinic motion for additional details.

sutton.tif (184164 bytes)

Board of Supervisors Chairman Zev Yaroslavsky (right) is joined by Dr. Clarence Sutton, trauma surgeon at the Providence Holy Cross Medical Center, to express support for Measure B, the Yaroslavsky proposal to save the region’s trauma care network which voters approved overwhelmingly on Election Day. Dr. Sutton appeared with Ben Kadish, a young boy whose life he saved when the child was shot and seriously wounded by a gunman at the North Valley Jewish Community Center in August 1999. (10/30/02)