Without Urgent Action in the California State Budget, Los Angeles County’s Public Healthcare System Faces Cuts that Directly Affect Patient Care, Jobs, and Community Health

LOS ANGELES, CA — Unprecedented changes to Federal and State funding of healthcare are projected to cost LA Health Services more than $700 million each year by 2029. The choices lawmakers and Governor Gavin Newsom make in the state budget by June 14th will impact the largest health system in California.

LA Health Services is the designated healthcare safety net for the nation’s largest and most populous county and today we are warning that without action from California leaders, LA County’s safety net will unravel.

“LA County residents should know that private medical centers are not immune to the impact of these changes. When public hospitals and health centers are  weakened, the entire healthcare system feels it,” said Dr. Christina Ghaly,  Director of LA Health Services. “We will see ambulances wait longer and  emergency rooms, including those for patients with private insurance, become  more crowded. The safety net is not separate from the rest of healthcare. It is the foundation that helps hold the system together.” 

LA Health Services joins California’s public hospital systems in asking state leaders to include $500 million in the state budget as an initial step to stabilize public health hospitals. While this funding will not solve every challenge, it will help prevent immediate harm while public systems work to manage the long-term impacts of federal cuts.

LA Health Services cares for more than half a million people every year regardless of their ability to pay, insurance, or immigration status. When people lose healthcare coverage or face more barriers, they don’t stop needing care. They just get sicker before they reach us, often in already strained emergency departments.

To protect patient care, we’ve already made difficult decisions including consolidating services across three community health centers, instituted a hiring freeze, and reduced spending wherever possible. Our cost cutting efforts have saved more than $230 million.

But we need to be clear: we cannot cut our way out of a funding loss of this magnitude. Without help from the State, we will be forced to consider options no one wants, reduced patient services, staff layoffs, and potential facility closures. 

The threat to LA Health Services isn’t just a public hospital issue. It affects every community in Los Angeles County and, ultimately, the entire state.

In southern California, LA Health Services is the safety net system the region depends on in times of crisis. Our health system is on the frontlines during wildfires, heat waves, mass casualty events, and the quiet crises that unfold in homes every day.

Our hospitals cared for firefighters injured in the Wilmington explosion. Our teams responded to the Monterey Park mass shooting. We were there for our communities throughout the COVID19 pandemic.

Southern California is set to host global events like the FIFA World Cup in a few days and in 2028, the Olympic Games, welcoming 15 million visitors. Emergencies will happen. Disasters may strike. People will need care. Los Angeles needs a public healthcare system strong enough to respond.

The decisions by state leaders go beyond a budget line. At the end of the day, this is about whether a trauma team is ready when a firefighter is severely burned in the line of duty. Whether a newborn gets intensive care. Whether someone with cancer or heart disease gets the care they need before it’s too late.

Public hospitals are where California’s promise of healthcare access becomes real. We cannot allow that promise to weaken just when people need us most.

State leaders have a critical opportunity to protect the systems that protect all of us.

Los Angeles County is counting on them.