Los Angeles – Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich issued the following statement following the release of a Grand Jury report recommending the creation of a Health Authority for Los Angeles County:

“A Health Authority is an oxymoron – a multi-million dollar bureaucracy with no control over the budget, the Department of Health, the Chief Administrative Officer or the Board of Supervisors.  Creating another layer of bureaucracy is misguided and irresponsible.  State law makes the Board of Supervisors responsible for the budget – not a health authority.

A Health Authority will not protect the County from cost over-runs nor would it accept the responsibility of lawsuits that may result in reduction of more health services.  In effect, the County will be forced to become the fiscal “safety net” while delegating spending authority to a group of volunteers that will not have fiscal accountability or responsibility. 

The recommendations made by the Grand Jury to improve the overall organization of the Department can be accomplished without forming an authority.  We need to hold the Director of Health Services, managers and clinicians accountable — if they cannot do the job, they need to step aside.

However, the Grand Jury correctly points out that we must define the population that will be served by County taxpayers.  For many years, I have requested that the Board support health care only to those individuals we are mandated to serve — legal residents who are medically indigent.  The County can no longer be the HMO to the world.