L.A. County's health director steps down

Los Angeles County's ailing public health system was back in the emergency room this afternoon. Embattled health services director Dr. Bruce A. Chernof abruptly announced his resignation as the department faces a huge deficit. Chernof was on the job for only about two years before announcing his exit. Times reporters are working on a full story.

The departure was made public hours after the county announced that the only viable candidate to reopen Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital in Willowbrook had pulled out of the running. Despite never having run a large healthcare system, the low-key Chernof was hired by the county Board of Supervisors with high hopes of turning the department around.

At the time of his appointment in May 2006, Chernof said, "I really love this system," citing its mission to serve the community's neediest patients. "It's a challenge. But it's worth it."

—Jesus Sanchez

Photo: Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Another One Bites the Dust]

NO ONE can "turn around" MLK or the entire county healthcare system, because 80% of its users have been on Medi-Cal, and increasingly, illegal immigrants, not the African-Americans who MLK was built for in the 60's. 2/3 of live births in L A County are to Hispanic immigrants on Medi-Cal or no insurance, many illegals, too.

This problem also plagues the city: Karen Sisson, the Chief Financial Officer who's resigning (no doubt, the stress of the impossible task of balancing the city budget with people who refuse to make hard decisions, including about illegal immigration's drain on the city coffers), noted that the healthcare system in the City and County has been in crisis for over a decade -- "coincidentally," when illegals became the critical mass -- but masked by the brisk real estate market and high property taxes.

The County Supervisors, and City Council, have to stop caving in to the demands of the Mexican politicians who are more concerned with currying favor with Mexico and pro-illegal sentiment, than to the realities and needs of American residents and legal residents. Now, as these clinics and hospitals are closing, legal residents who are laid off or can't afford insurance, have no safety net.

Lest anyone think this is hysteria or "immigrant bashing," look at financial realities only, apart from politics. And look at Maricopa County in Arizona: schools back serving the legal residents and citizens, small effective class sizes; fully functioning and operational hospitals and ER's, and other social services available to legal residents who need them.

When Americans visit Mexico, if we have accidents without local insurance, or to go hospitals for anything more than as aspirin, we must must pay be cash or credit card on the spot or be jailed. These people are foreign nationals, and we must start giving them bills, too -- if they don't pay, send them to their countries, Mexico and Salvador, etc. We are the only country in the world with this problem. Also, we must forbid "anchor baby" status, except to those who've been working in this country with legal papers or certain exemptions.

I like my neighborhood despite the problems, the multi-ethnic mix and food and shops are fun. Ironically, I don't even live on the westside and can't afford it, but I work in the area and pass that intersection. But as I consider starting a family and buying a house, it can't be here. Even modest homeowners are treated so much better and get so much more for their money in Ventura County, even Burbank, so I have to start looking where to move, another one bites the dust.

[buz]

But at least we have inexpensive lettuce. So take that.

[David]

I have already moved out. I live in Orange County now. Maybe I should move to Arizona

[Daryl F. Gates]

It's SO EASY to solve the County's health care crisis. Stop treating illegal aliens, and stop providing a FREE hospital environment for anchor babies. If County hospitals only treated American citizens, their budget crisis would be solved.

[Michael Hernandez]

Apparently Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has his knickers in a twist because of the Fed’s crack-down here and there on established businesses in L.A. to find illegal aliens. The L.A. times just reported that ICE has made 4,900 arrests in the work place, nationwide since 2007. This is dramatically more than during 2001. Apparently workers are being picked-up at various manufacturing plants and businesses in a random sort of way who are suspected of being illegal aliens. The Mayor has asked ICE to instead focus on bad employers who don’t play by “the rules” because so many business raids, in L.A. especially, are hurting business.

What Villaraigosa is really saying is that his tax money is drying-up because of the raids and illegal aliens are forced to flee from various businesses in town once in the spotlight. “Don’t take my money from me!” Who cares about right or wrong? Who cares if workers are fraudulently here from mystery countries and taking American jobs? Who cares if 1/3 of them end up in our prisons at our expense? Who cares if the rest of them suck dry our hospitals, schools and welfare system? Who cares if they knowingly broke laws to get here? Who cares if Mexico is one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Don’t hold their Government accountable for creating hope and jobs in their own country?

Before I get too hard on the Mayor of L.A. for his concern about increasing raids on businesses, lets review the fragile, hypocritical and “pretend immigration” rules our country is now under. First of all, even though in 1996 federal law (the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act), which requires local authorities and leadership to cooperate with ICE and Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs enforcement, sanctuary cities all across this country flip-off enforcement in dealing with illegal aliens. Whether formal or informal sanctuary cities, the policy is basically to police, and other people in leadership, “look the other way,” “don’t ask and don’t tell.”

We are talking, L.A., New York, D.C. Miami etc?.basically, most major cities in the whole country!

So then, why should anyone be mad at Villaraigosa if he doesn’t want certain businesses crashed by the Feds? It’s the sewage of hypocrisy all across the country, starting with the FEDs and our President anyway! Here are the national and local immigration rules. Come close, go away! You are in. You are out. It’s against the law to break into our country, but if and when you do, welfare, free medical, mortgages, housing and jobs are awaiting you. Most our cities in the U.S. play, and are good at playing the sanctuary game, so your crimes and exploitation of our services are covered.

Since the deranged masses say they want REAL border security, our politicians pretend to protect our borders. The truth is when some of the illegal alien drug thugs and other criminals come across and happen to collide with our border patrol, don’t worry. We will just throw those pesky, racist border patrol, Minute Men or police in prison.

The truth is pathetically obvious since the idiot law change back in the 60s by Kennedy opened the floodgate to illegal aliens, THERE IS AN ANTI-AMERICAN, GLOBALIST AGENDA GOING ON! Soon it will be hate speech to say the word “sovereignty, illegal alien, or border!!!” You are not a patriotic, law-abiding American because you want border security.

[Justin Long]

Yes, I totally agree, we should Treat Legal Risdents ONLY. iLLegal is the BIGGEST Problem in the U.S.

[John Whitbread]

Dr. Bruce A. Chernof is a good man. He did his best for his boss: the general public. Politicians should never be running hospitals. Leave it to the professionals like Dr. Bruce A. Chernof. He should be rewarded for even trying. Ask the others who came before him.

[TopicPointOfView]

Amazing, absolutely amazing... if the comments you've all submitted are the best you can come up with, when pointing a finger, than the "issue" is worst than we thought; the real ailment is ignorance, poor planning, no pride or real commitment to yourself and lack of support! But, I'm not surprised... I see and hear this everyday from people in big business; wands are waived and egos are stroked by either eliminating or traumatizing those with inferior personalities.

All of you either experienced this or are guilty of it... either way, it's a weak stance and it cheapens society, no matter where you live in the world.