Department Of Health Services

Did the California Department of Health Services deliberately falsify--or shield--information in its licensing of a low-level radioactive waste dump at Ward Valley? This is the question raised by the department's delivery of 144 pages of documentation "inadvertently omitted" from a copy of the administrative record released in connection with a legal challenge to the licensing.

With a federal waiver worth $150 million expiring next month, and hundreds of millions more in state and federal funds in limbo, Los Angeles County's top health officials said Tuesday that they soon may have to begin layoffs and slash the number of patients served by a third to 58%. "We're going to have to make significant reductions in services," said John Schunhoff, interim director of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services....

County Chief Administrative Officer Clifford Graves was right to move decisively last week to impose an interim reorganization of the Department of Health Services. Graves, the lame-duck head of the county bureaucracy, acted after months of crisis atmosphere created by problems that have plagued Edgemoor Geriatric Hospital and the county mental health hospital, known as CMH.

About 700,000 mostly poor and uninsured patients cycle through the Los Angeles County healthcare system each year, visiting its hospitals, clinics and emergency or trauma units. But what's particularly troubling is the number of people who have cycled through the top job at the Department of Health Services.

Ninety-eight more cases of AIDS were reported in Los Angeles County last month, the Department of Health Services announced, bringing the total of local victims to 1,749. The number of deaths from acquired immune deficiency syndrome in the county stood at 978--about 56% of those afflicted.

Re "The Dirty Kitchens in the County's Health Department," Opinion, Dec 7: As a Department of Health Services inspector it comes as no surprise to me and my co-workers that the mismanagement of our department has finally come to light. We were directed to make more inspections than we could possibly perform properly, because numbers were more important to management than quality work. Numerous policy violations by management were ignored. There is a firmly established old-boys network that is both inefficient and takes care of its own. MARTHA LOPEZ Registered Environmental Health Specialist III, Ontario

Pacific Treatment Corp., a waste-chemical transfer plant in Logan Heights, has settled an administrative complaint brought by the state of California for $105,000, Department of Health Services officials announced Wednesday. Health Services investigators had charged the corporation with 16 violations of state and federal waste-treatment regulations, said Jim Marxen, a Department of Health Services spokesman.

State health officials are warning consumers to stop using remaining supplies of supplements from BotanicLab, maker of the recalled PC SPES. BotanicLab, which closed its doors earlier this month, recalled its popular prostate cancer remedy after the California Department of Health Services found it was contaminated with the prescription drugs warfarin, diethylstilbesterol (DES), ethinyl estradiol and indomethacin.

A Los Angeles County health official said Thursday he has no plans to order the posting of warnings about the possible dangers of eating contaminated fish from Santa Monica and San Pedro bays, despite concerns expressed by two other public agencies.

"Program for Needy Is Delayed" (June 17) may have left readers with the mistaken impression that L.A. Care Health Plan is responsible for delaying full implementation of a statewide managed care program for Medi-Cal beneficiaries in Los Angeles County. In fact, the delays stem from the Health Care Financing Administration's desire to see more progress from the state Department of Health Services in correcting problems with the implementation here. In communications from HCFA to DHS, L.A. Care Health Plan has not been cited as a reason for concern or requiring corrective action.

Re "Supervisor Calls On Health Chief to Quit," April 27: Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich has called for the resignation of the head of the county Department of Health Services because of ongoing problems at the county-run King/Drew Medical Center, stating that those in charge must be accountable. I agree. When hillside developments are approved and promises of quality and amenities are not fulfilled, when the county foster care system puts children in more danger, when a culture of death and neglect is allowed to run rampant in county hospitals, those responsible should be held accountable and resign.

The county Department of Health Services shuts down facilities for as long as necessary for owners to correct conditions that endanger public health. Here are restaurants and bakeries closed in September: THE VIOLATIONS -- Name Address Closed Reopened Codes 7 Mares 8859 Woodman Ave, Arleta 9/10 9/10 O Restaurant A B Happy 838 N Hacienda Blvd, La 9/8 9/13 M, N Panda Puente Angelo's 902 W Mission Blvd, 9/25 9/27 M, N Burgers Pomona Arroyo 1923 W Whittier Blvd, 9/18 9/19 O Express Montebello Banana Bay 18230 Colima Rd, Rowland 9/3 9/4 D Restaurant Heights Barrio 5233 N Clark Ave, 9/25 M, N Fiesta Lakewood Bonello's 832 S Gaffey St, San 9/29 10/1 B, M, N Ny Pizza Pedro China 13325 E Telegraph Rd, 9/18 9/20 +, D Gardens Whittier China Town 4201 W Beverly Blvd, Los 9/24 9/26 M, N Express Angeles Club 4818 E Compton Blvd, 9/4 9/11 M, N, P Chapala Compton Curry 3377 Wilshire Blvd #110, 9/23 9/25 K, M, N Factory Los Angeles Daily 18766 Amar Rd, Walnut 9/5 9/7 M, N Donuts Danos 23770 S Western Ave, 9/19 Y, Z Sport Torrance Grill Dok Du 1543 W Olympic Blvd, Los 9/16 9/18 M, N Sushi Bar Angeles Duk Su 7128 Van Nuys Blvd, Van 9/25 9/27 M, N Jang Nuys Restaurant Edokko 17200 Railroad Ave, 9/24 9/26 M, N Restaurant Industry El Chipilin 4170 W Beverly Blvd, Los 9/22 9/27 M Angeles El Delfin 1800 S Central Ave, Los 9/26 9/26 O Restaurant Angeles El Pollo 7514 Woodman Ave, Van 9/18 9/25 B, D, E, I, K Necio Nuys El 2702 E Cesar E. Chavez 9/26 9/29 M, N Sinaloense Ave, Los...

State health officials are warning consumers to stop using remaining supplies of supplements from BotanicLab, maker of the recalled PC SPES. BotanicLab, which closed its doors earlier this month, recalled its popular prostate cancer remedy after the California Department of Health Services found it was contaminated with the prescription drugs warfarin, diethylstilbesterol (DES), ethinyl estradiol and indomethacin.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has yet to figure out how to deal with the 2.7 million county residents who do not have health insurance--the largest uninsured county population in the United States--and time is running out. In 1995, President Clinton came to the rescue of the county's ailing health system, which is the last resort for non-elderly citizens without insurance, when L.A. County faced a shortfall of several hundred million dollars....

It's official. An investigation by the California Department of Toxic Substance Control, ordered by Gov. Gray Davis in response to complaints I raised at the urging of my constituents, has confirmed that the Department of Health Services wrongfully withheld from the public and from public health investigators a 1997 cancer survey of the communities near the Rocketdyne corporation's Santa Susana Field Laboratory.

Re "The Dirty Kitchens in the County's Health Department," Opinion, Dec 7: As a Department of Health Services inspector it comes as no surprise to me and my co-workers that the mismanagement of our department has finally come to light. We were directed to make more inspections than we could possibly perform properly, because numbers were more important to management than quality work. Numerous policy violations by management were ignored. There is a firmly established old-boys network that is both inefficient and takes care of its own. MARTHA LOPEZ Registered Environmental Health Specialist III, Ontario

About 700,000 mostly poor and uninsured patients cycle through the Los Angeles County healthcare system each year, visiting its hospitals, clinics and emergency or trauma units. But what's particularly troubling is the number of people who have cycled through the top job at the Department of Health Services.

"Program for Needy Is Delayed" (June 17) may have left readers with the mistaken impression that L.A. Care Health Plan is responsible for delaying full implementation of a statewide managed care program for Medi-Cal beneficiaries in Los Angeles County. In fact, the delays stem from the Health Care Financing Administration's desire to see more progress from the state Department of Health Services in correcting problems with the implementation here. In communications from HCFA to DHS, L.A. Care Health Plan has not been cited as a reason for concern or requiring corrective action.

Did the California Department of Health Services deliberately falsify--or shield--information in its licensing of a low-level radioactive waste dump at Ward Valley? This is the question raised by the department's delivery of 144 pages of documentation "inadvertently omitted" from a copy of the administrative record released in connection with a legal challenge to the licensing.