{"id":81638,"date":"2026-06-11T20:01:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T03:01:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=81638"},"modified":"2026-06-11T20:01:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T03:01:21","slug":"without-urgent-action-in-the-california-state-budget-los-angeles-countys-public-healthcare-system-faces-cuts-that-directly-affect-patient-care-jobs-and-community-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=81638","title":{"rendered":"Without Urgent Action in the California State Budget, Los Angeles County\u2019s Public Healthcare System Faces Cuts that Directly Affect Patient Care, Jobs, and Community Health"},"content":{"rendered":"

LA Health Services urges state leaders to protect the safety net relied on by more than 10 million LA County residents during everyday care and major emergencies<\/span>\u00a0<\/em><\/h3>\n
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LOS ANGELES, CA<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Unprecedented changes to Federal and\u00a0State\u00a0funding of healthcare are projected to cost LA Health Services\u00a0more than $700 million each year by 2029.\u00a0The choices lawmakers and Governor Gavin Newsom make\u00a0in\u00a0the state budget\u00a0by June 14th\u00a0will\u00a0impact\u00a0the largest health system in California.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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LA Health\u00a0Services\u00a0is\u00a0the\u00a0designated\u00a0healthcare safety net for\u00a0the nation\u2019s largest and\u00a0most populous county\u00a0and\u00a0today we are\u00a0warning that without action\u00a0from California leaders,\u00a0LA County\u2019s\u00a0safety net\u00a0will unravel.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cLA County residents should know that private medical centers are not immune to\u00a0<\/em>the impact of these changes. When public hospitals and\u00a0health centers are\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0weakened, the entire healthcare system feels it,\u201d\u00a0<\/em>said Dr. Christina Ghaly,\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0Director of LA Health Services.<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cWe\u00a0will see ambulances wait longer\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0emergency rooms, including those for patients with private insurance, become\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0more crowded. The safety net is not separate from the rest of healthcare. It is the\u00a0<\/em>foundation that helps hold the system together.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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LA Health Services\u00a0joins\u00a0California\u2019s\u00a0public hospital systems\u00a0in asking\u00a0state leaders to include $500 million in the state\u00a0budget as\u00a0an initial\u00a0step to stabilize public health hospitals.\u00a0While this\u00a0funding will not solve every challenge,\u00a0it will help prevent immediate harm while public systems work to manage the long-term impacts of federal cuts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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LA Health Services cares for more than half a million people every year regardless of their\u00a0ability to pay, insurance, or immigration status.\u00a0When people lose healthcare coverage or face more barriers, they\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0stop needing care. They just get sicker before they reach us, often in already strained emergency departments.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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To protect patient care,\u00a0we\u2019ve\u00a0already made\u00a0difficult decisions\u00a0including\u00a0consolidating services across three community health centers<\/a>,\u00a0instituted a hiring freeze, and\u00a0reduced\u00a0spending wherever\u00a0possible.\u00a0Our cost cutting efforts\u00a0have saved more than $230 million.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But we need to be clear: we cannot cut our way out of a funding loss of this\u00a0magnitude.\u00a0Without\u00a0help from the State,\u00a0we will be forced to consider options no one wants, reduced patient services, staff layoffs, and\u00a0potential\u00a0facility closures.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The threat to LA Health\u00a0Services\u00a0isn\u2019t\u00a0just a public hospital issue. It affects every community in Los Angeles County and, ultimately, the\u00a0entire state.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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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\u00a0the quiet crises that unfold in homes every day.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Our hospitals cared for firefighters injured in the\u00a0Wilmington explosion<\/a>. Our teams responded to the\u00a0Monterey Park mass shooting<\/a>. We were there for our communities throughout the COVID19 pandemic.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Southern California\u00a0is set to host global events like the FIFA World Cup in a few\u00a0days\u00a0and\u00a0in\u00a02028, the\u00a0Olympic Games, welcoming\u00a015\u00a0million\u00a0visitors. Emergencies will happen. Disasters\u00a0may\u00a0strike. People will need care. Los Angeles needs a public healthcare system strong enough to respond.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The decisions by state leaders go\u00a0beyond\u00a0a\u00a0budget line.\u00a0At the end\u00a0of the day, this\u00a0is\u00a0about whether a trauma team is ready when a firefighter is\u00a0severely\u00a0burned\u00a0in the line of duty.\u00a0Whether a newborn gets intensive care.\u00a0Whether someone with cancer or heart disease gets the care they need before\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0too late.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Public hospitals are where California\u2019s promise of healthcare access becomes real. We cannot allow that promise to weaken just when people need us most.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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State leaders have a critical opportunity to protect the systems that protect all of us.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Los Angeles County is counting on them.\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LA Health Services urges state leaders...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ca-local","category-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81638","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=81638"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81638\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81639,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81638\/revisions\/81639"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=81638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=81638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=81638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}