High Desert Hospital

Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich plans to ask the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday to approve replacing county-owned High Desert Hospital with a new facility in the fast-growing Antelope Valley, the supervisor's staff said Thursday. "We can't keep up with the growth of this community," said Walter Gray, administrator of the 171-bed hospital. "There really is a tremendous need."

An effort to save Los Angeles County's inpatient hospital services in the Antelope Valley was rejected this week by a federal judge who has protected other county health services slated for elimination. U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper denied a request for a temporary restraining order to stop the conversion of Lancaster's High Desert Hospital into an "ambulatory care clinic," which would handle less serious medical problems than a hospital and save the county $10 million a year.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich plans to ask the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday to approve replacing county-owned High Desert Hospital with a new facility in the fast-growing Antelope Valley, the supervisor's staff said Thursday. "We can't keep up with the growth of this community," said Walter Gray, administrator of the 171-bed hospital. "There really is a tremendous need."

County supervisors rejected a plan Tuesday that sought to save inpatient services at the county-run High Desert Hospital by leasing it to a private company. The county is converting the Lancaster hospital into an ambulatory care clinic to save $10 million a year, part of a larger plan to close a projected $1.1-billion budget shortfall in the county health-care system by the 2007-08 fiscal year.

Responding to charges of mismanagement and low morale at High Desert Hospital, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday ordered the Lancaster hospital to replace its top administrator and submit to weekly progress reports. Supervisor Mike Antonovich, who introduced the motion, said the board's action was necessary to make sure that the hospital corrects 30 violations uncovered in a county audit released last week.

State authorities are investigating several doctors employed by Los Angeles County for theft, alleging that they defrauded the county and the state out of a "considerable" amount of Medi-Cal funds by personally pocketing money for services performed at the county's High Desert Hospital in the Antelope Valley, officials said Thursday.

The last two years have not been kind to High Desert Hospital. It has been racked by a series of scandals. The Board of Supervisors, citing poor management, ordered that its top administrator resign. The facility narrowly avoided closure during the county's budget crisis last year. Now, the future of the 35-year-old hospital is again in doubt.

In the weeks since the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved deep cuts to the county's health-care system, a home-grown crusade to save High Desert Hospital has sprung to life on the county's northeastern edge. The High Desert Hospital Advisory Council has lobbied county officials, drummed up community support and crafted a new business plan that includes innovative moneymaking ventures.

The Antelope Valley's High Desert Hospital got at least a temporary reprieve in the budget adopted by Los Angeles County supervisors Tuesday, but UCLA/Olive View Medical Center in Sylmar was hit by stiff cutbacks in outpatient services. County health clinics in the San Fernando Valley and northern part of the county still face possible closure.

After enduring several bouts of near-closure during the past two years, patients and employees at Lancaster's High Desert Hospital were left hanging again on Monday. The budget plan unveiled by county Chief Administrative Officer David E. Janssen recommends that the county cut High Desert's funding by June 30--whether or not the facility has been privatized by that date.

Los Angeles County supervisors rejected a plan Tuesday that sought to save inpatient services at the county-run High Desert Hospital by leasing it to a private company. The county is converting the Lancaster hospital into an ambulatory care clinic, meaning it would only handle minor medical procedures, to save $10 million per year, part of a larger plan to close a projected $1.1-billion budget shortfall in the county health-care system by the 2007-08 fiscal year.

Borrowing a tactic from patients and public interest law groups that has stalled cutbacks at other county health facilities, the directors of the Antelope Valley's largest hospital are threatening to seek an injunction to stop the closure of inpatient services at High Desert Hospital in Lancaster.

Antelope Valley leaders on Wednesday condemned Los Angeles County's decision not to use part of a $150-million federal bailout to save the publicly operated High Desert Hospital from cutbacks. Palmdale Mayor James Ledford said the decision favors Los Angeles County's urban core even though Antelope Valley hospitals are overcrowded. The county will use federal aid for Olive View-UCLA Medical Center in Sylmar and Harbor-UCLA Medical Center near Torrance.

Warning of an impending health crisis in their fast-growing region, Antelope Valley leaders on Wednesday condemned Los Angeles County's decision not to use part of a $150-million federal bailout to save the publicly operated High Desert Hospital. Palmdale Mayor James Ledford said the decision ignores the remote area and favors Los Angeles County's urban core even though Antelope Valley hospitals are overcrowded. "Why are we the crisis part of the county?" Ledford asked.

High Desert Hospital has been unable to meet its financial goals halfway through a six-month effort designed to prevent the county-run facility from being downgraded to an outpatient clinic, according to a new report. Facing a countywide budget crunch, the county Board of Supervisors voted in August to eliminate the hospital's inpatient services -- treatment for serious problems that require a stay of more than 24 hours.

In the weeks since the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved deep cuts to the county's health-care system, a home-grown crusade to save High Desert Hospital has sprung to life on the county's northeastern edge. The High Desert Hospital Advisory Council has lobbied county officials, drummed up community support and crafted a new business plan that includes innovative moneymaking ventures.

The former chief of obstetrics at High Desert Hospital and two other physicians suspected of double billing the state's Medi-Cal program were investigated for the same offense four years ago, according to court documents obtained by The Times. The doctors are Calvin N. Ladner--the former head of obstetrics, who earned $135,000 a year from his county employment alone--and physicians Samy F.

Los Angeles County supervisors made the deepest cuts ever to their troubled health-care system Wednesday, voting unanimously to shutter 11 of 18 public health clinics, end inpatient services in High Desert Hospital and eliminate 5,000 positions. The vote came although about 1,000 people showed up to plead with the supervisors to preserve a health-care system that cares for 800,000 annually, most of whom are uninsured and have nowhere else to go.

Los Angeles County supervisors made the deepest cuts ever to their troubled health-care system Wednesday, voting unanimously to shutter 11 of 18 public health clinics, end inpatient services in High Desert Hospital and eliminate 5,000 positions. The vote came although about 1,000 people showed up to plead with the supervisors to preserve a health-care system that cares for 800,000 annually, most of whom are uninsured and have nowhere else to go.