Los Angeles County Department Of Health Services

Health officials confirmed Tuesday the first human case of West Nile virus infection in the county this year. An unidentified older man who lives in the eastern part of the county is recovering from the virus, the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services said. At least 20 virus-related deaths occurred in the state last year. Most cases occur in the warmer months, when mosquitoes are most active.

After more than a year without a permanent leader for Los Angeles County's health department, long-time public health executive Bob Sillen is now favored to get the job by the county's top executive, according to sources familiar with the hiring process. William T Fujioka, the county's chief executive, said Friday that a finalist is scheduled to meet with county supervisors individually Monday and to conduct a group interview Tuesday.

The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services failed to adequately monitor $320 million in service contracts, leading to overpayments and questions about the quality of work the county is receiving, according to a recent audit. The county contracts for a wide range of services, including medical, laundry, housekeeping, security and computer systems. Auditors found that county employees who monitor contracts mostly work at home and took "excessive time to complete assignments."

Curry Mendes moved to Los Angeles last week from New York, where he had picked restaurants based on word of mouth and Zagat reviews. But he quickly learned that many people in L.A. choose restaurants based on the big letter grade affixed by the L.A. County Department of Public Health to the front of nearly 38,000 restaurants and other businesses that sell food ready to eat.

The City Council has introduced an ordinance that would require businesses to post the letter grades given to them by the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services. If the measure is adopted, restaurants, bars, markets, bakeries and liquor stores would have to display the signs in public view. The county requires restaurants to post a A, B or C grades so patrons can see how the establishments are complying with health codes.

The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services has opened a free, evening clinic for teen-agers in Van Nuys to test for and to treat sexually transmitted diseases and educate youth about family planning and parenting skills. The clinic, which operates from 3:30 to 8 p.m. Thursdays, also provides information on safe sex practices, contraceptive devices and HIV testing. It is located at the Mid Valley Comprehensive Health Center, 7515 Van Nuys Blvd.

The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services announced an outreach and education program Monday aimed at encouraging women to seek prenatal care in an effort to decrease the area's infant mortality rate. Known as "SuperBabies," the campaign will include ads on buses and billboards as well as radio commercials that urge women to seek medical care during pregnancy, especially during the first trimester.

Beginning Monday, owners of food establishments that receive ratings below C will be required to explain at a hearing why they should not be closed, a Los Angeles County Department of Health Services official said. The county Board of Supervisors ruled in favor of the new requirement to further ensure the safety of food served at Los Angeles County's 36,000 restaurants and other eateries, said John Schunhoff, chief of operations for public health.

Free toddler immunization clinics will be held this month at Los Angeles County health centers, where vaccinations are provided by the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services. The immunization clinics are part of a local and nationwide effort to protect children from contagious and potentially fatal illnesses such as measles. The May immunization campaign is especially aimed at toddlers because vaccination rates nationwide drop off sharply after the first year of life.

A plan to speed the routing of the Santa Clarita Valley's 911 emergency calls will be implemented in April by the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services. In addition, Palmdale-based Wilson Ambulance, which holds the county's contract to serve both the Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys, will consider reinstating Santa Clarita Ambulance, which it fired Oct.

County supervisors voted three to two Tuesday to forgo a national search for a director of public health and appoint Dr. Jonathan Fielding, the county health officer, who has served in a similar county role since 1998. Supervisors Zev Yaroslavsky, Yvonne Brathwaite Burke and Mike Antonovich voted to appoint Fielding. Supervisors Gloria Molina and Don Knabe voted against. An aide to Molina said she objected to the job's $260,000 salary, which would put Fielding on a par with Sheriff Lee Baca.

Reversing a policy of openness, Los Angeles County health officials are refusing to release statistics on the quality of care provided by troubled Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center. Former leaders of the Department of Health Services released data last year on the number of deaths, medication errors, patient falls, infections and medical mishaps at King/Drew, saying they wanted to be transparent about the hospital's recovery.

Los Angeles County has spent at least $2 million in taxpayer dollars intended to prepare for bioterrorism on buffing up the health department's image, responding to unrelated health scourges and buying questionable supplies and services, a Times review has found. When public health officials couldn't round up enough volunteers to take part in a smallpox vaccination drill, for instance, they turned to actors from an old Hollywood standby: Central Casting.

County supervisors delayed a decision Tuesday on whether to split the Department of Health Services into two entities by separating public health services from the hospital system. The Board of Supervisors instead instructed Chief Administrative Officer David E. Janssen to prepare a report by May 23 that would outline how the public health unit could remain a part of Health Services but be given more autonomy in such areas as human resources and contracting.

Ten years ago last week, Los Angeles County supervisors received a stern warning. The public healthcare system, pushed to the brink of collapse that summer by a $655-million budget shortfall, was still in jeopardy, the county's specially appointed health czar reported. And the supervisors were advised to relinquish some control to a board of experts. The supervisors asked for a report. The next year, they asked for another. They asked for reports in 1999, 2000 and 2001.

The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to name Dr. Bruce A. Chernof as interim director of the county's Department of Health Services. Chernof, a 43-year-old internist who is the department's senior medical director for clinical affairs, will succeed Dr. Thomas Garthwaite, who is leaving after nearly four years to become chief medical officer of Pennsylvania-based Catholic Health East.

Despite modest improvements in health insurance coverage, nearly one in three adults and one in five children in Los Angeles County are uninsured--one of the worst records in the nation, according to a new survey by the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services. Thirty-one percent of adults under age 65 were uninsured in 1999, compared with 34% in 1997, according to the telephone survey of approximately 8,000 households.

The director of AIDS programs for the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services will be transferred from his post, just a day after the Board of Supervisors ordered an investigation of deficiencies at county AIDS clinics, officials announced Wednesday. Health department officials insisted that the transfer of Robert E. Frangenberg was a routine measure, planned weeks in advance. But AIDS activists hailed the action as a victory.

When Dr. Thomas Garthwaite took over the massive Los Angeles healthcare system nearly four years ago, he immediately faced deep-rooted financial problems that eventually forced him to recommend cutting medical services, reducing inpatient beds and closing hospitals.

Los Angeles County health director Dr. Thomas Garthwaite resigned Tuesday, ending a tumultuous tenure of nearly four years marked by unrelenting budget woes and a deadly scandal at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center. The departure leaves leaderless a county Department of Health Services that oversees four general hospitals and a network of clinics that together treat about 715,000 patients a year, the vast majority uninsured.