Pacific Progressive

"The History of Health Care in Orange County has been a Series of Crises"

Curtis Crocker, a patient of Lestonnac Free Clinic, talk about his problems getting health care in Orange County.  Ninh Nguyen, client of VNCOC Asian Health, and Alondra Campos, client of Latino Health Access, are on either side of Curtis.

Felix Schwarz, Executive Director of the Health Care Council of Orange County summed up health care in Orange County at the Coalition of Orange County Community Clinics forum on August 22, 2009.  The forum, Community Health Centers on the Frontlines:  Orange County Health in a Growing Crisis, discussed the growing problems community clinics face having to serve more clients which severely reduced budgets. 

The Coalition is asking for the public to support keeping the clinics funded.  The Coalition is collecting names and stories of people hurt by the cutbacks in clinic funding as part of The List Project.  Additionally, the Coalition is asking people to send postcards to Gov. Schwarzenegger with details about how clinic cuts will hurt them, their children, and their neighbors. The postcards are available thru the Coalition offices. 

Orange County is the second most populous county in the state and one of the largest counties in the United States without a public hospital or a primary care public health system.  The Coalition of Orange County Community Clinics is a group of 19 clinics which provide a primary care safety net for the over 600,000 uninsured residents of Orange County.  

 Clinic clients, clinic staff and advocates were on the panel. Three clients, Curtis Crock, helped by Letsonnac Free Clinic in Orange, Alondra Campos helped by Latino Health Access and Ninh Nguyen helped by VNCOC Asian Health Center, told how they were not able to get health care before finding the clinics.

•  Curtis Crock, who has worked all his life for employers who sponsored health insurance, found himself out of work and uninsured.  His wife was recovering from cancer and needed continuing treatments.  Curtis has a cardiac condition which requires regular care.  Curtis went to Lestonnac Free Clinic in Orange, which is able to offer specialty care.  His wife was able to obtain care from Share Our Selves in Costa Mesa.  Curtis felt frustrated by the system because he had always been employed, at a good job, with medical benefits until recently.  "People find themselves without the resources to receive health care," is how Curtis summed it up.  He added, "It's startling to see the number of people at the Inglewood clinic", referring to the recent clinic in Inglewood by Remote Area Medical (RAM).
• Alondra Campos, a client of Latino Health Access, is a young vibrant woman who is slowly going blind from complications of juvenile diabetes.  If Alondra had been born into a family living in an Orange County gated community, losing her sight due to diabetes would never be an issue.  Alondra has not been able to get reliable and consistent care for her diabetes because she does not have insurance.  Her history of getting what care she could get has been heart breaking.  At a time when she was able to pull together enough money for a doctor visit, that doctor gave her hormones and steroids instead of actually treating her diabetes.  When a telemarketer called and promised her insurance that would cover her condition, she sent in the money and never received the promised level of coverage, only more statements for premiums.  Finally, Alondra went to Latino Health Access, who is working with her on managing her diabetes and saving her sight.  Alondra has been diagnosed with a detached retina and cataracts, something that is rarely seen in a young woman like her.  Latino Health Access has her scheduled for eye surgeries.  She describes her remaining vision as being only as far as her arms can reach.  "Eight months without seeing my mother, eight months without seeing my family, eight months without seeing anything," is how Alondra describes her life now.  She added, "Are we going to let some one else lose their vision because they don't qualify for insurance, because they're too high risk?"
• Ninh Nguyen, a client of VCNOC Asian Health Center, and a recent immigrant from VietNam, spoke of his frustrations in getting care.  Ninh first lived in Nevada after he immigrated and said, "Health care in Nevada is very hard,"  in describing the language, access and affordability problems he faced.  He then moved to Orange County to join the large Vietnamese community.  Once in Orange County, Ninh still had trouble getting care because he did not know how to find the right doctors or find ways to pay for care.  VCNOC Asian Health Center helped Ninh access MediCal and find doctors who can care for his needs.

City of Orange Isn't Going to Look the Same After New General Plan

The City of Orange is updating the General Plan for the city, a process which has taken several years.  Along the way, there have been a number of community workshops, and hearings.  The new general plan will result in a city which is more dense than it is currently.  Raising the density means improved roads are needed to handle the traffic. Additionally, more water is needed for the increased number of residents and workers within the city.

Write to the Planning Commission and City Council about the problems with these plans. Some are just not needed (Meats exit off 55, traffic light in the Plaza) and others have too many unanswered questions.

Build an interchange we don't need. City staff wants an Meats Ave exit off the 55. The idea is that this will drive traffic to the Village.  This is an unnecessary project that will cause the loss of how many homes and properties?

Put a traffic light in the Plaza.  No!

Commercial space will become much more dense because the floor area ratio (FAR) is being increased from 0.5 to 1.0 for General Commercial.  FAR is the ratio of building space to land space.  Under current zoning, building space can only be 1/2 the lot size.  Under new zoning, the building can have as much square footage as the lot. A builder can decide how the square footage will be spent - single or multi stories.  But, in the end, much more dense.

Potential Post Office Closures - Is Your Local Post Office Closing?

The Post Office has announced potential closures of 677  offices nationwide.  According to the Washington Post, here are local stations which could be closed:

Anaheim - Brookhurst, Canyon Station, Federal Station , Stadium Station

Fullerton - Commonwealth

Huntington Beach - Beach Center

Irvine - East Irvine Station

50 Fewer Magazines - Orange Public Library Needs Donations to Prevent Extinction

Budget cuts have hit the Orange Public Library. Magazines subscriptions will be cut if the public does not step up to fund them.  Many people use the magazines in the library - kids writing reports for schools, parents waiting for their kids to check out books, senior citizens, cost conscious families.  Library magazines are really good if you want to read just one article and don't want to shell out the $6.  And, having many people read one magazine is very green - saves trees, waste and the energy used to make and transport the magazines.

The Orange Public Library has three branches - Main Library and History Center, El Modena Branch, and Taft Branch.  Cuts will be made at all three branches.  

At Main Library, these magazines may go extinct:

Irvine Ranch Water District Fast Facts

Irvine Ranch Water District (IRWD)

www.irwd.com

15600 Sand Canyon Avenue

Irvine, CA 92618-3102

949-453-5300

Irvine Ranch Water District provides both drinking water and sanitation.  IRWD also produces recycled water.  The district supplies both groundwater and imported water to users.  

Service Area

Irvine, portions of Tustin, Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, Orange, Lake Forest and some unincorporated areas of Orange County.

Meetings

Meetings are the 2nd and 4th Mondays of the month at 5:00 PM at headquarters at 15600 Sand Canyon Avenue, Irvine, CA.

Board of Directors

Douglas J. Reinhart, President

Peer A. Swan, Vice President

Steven E. LaMar

Mary Aileen Matheis

John B. Withers

Facilities Operated

• Michelson Water Reclamation Plant  
• San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary (Duck Club and Audobon House)
• Los Alisos Water Reclamation Plant
• Irvine Lake (aka Santiago Reservoir)
• Dyer Road Wellfield
• San Joaquin Reservoir
• 12 additional recycled water reservoirs
• 34 domestic (water produced by IRWD) reservoirs

Killing Our Business Community - Community College Budget Cuts

Nothing kills business faster than not having enough skilled workers for jobs.  California needs people with college degrees and with advanced technical training that can go to work immediately.  California's community college system provides foundation for both of these.  Community colleges serve as cost-effective feeder schools for UC, CSU and private four year colleges.  Community colleges also train students for ever-more-technical jobs in auto repair, the medical field, computer systems and business.  Many paramedics and firefighters received part of the training at a California community college.

Under the new budget signed by Governor Schwarzenegger, community colleges lose over $680 million in funding from the amount originally improved in February 2009.  Yes, if you want to kill the business community in California, start at the roots, the community college system.

There are expectations that the federal government will backfill part of the money, reducing some of the damage. Part of this money will come from the stimulus program in the form of increased money for Pell grants.

The cuts to the system is expected to reduce enrollment by 250,000 students.  In 2008-09, 2,673,406 students attended classes in California community colleges.  It is expected that 10% of those students won't be in class next year.

Brea and Orange Contrast in Approach to Using CDBG Money

Brea will receive $186,463 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds in FY 09-10 to improve one of the most visible alleys in the city, the alley running parallel to Walnut Avenue and Madrona Avenue between Date and Elm Streets.  If you are using the Senior Center, Pioneer Hall, Arovista Park, Skateboard Park, and the Boys & Girls Club, you pass by the Elm Street entrance to this alley.

Work will begin after Labor Day and includes improving drainage, replacing asphalt and providing financing for improving the rear fence.

When a similar CDBG grant for alley improvement came before the Orange city council several weeks ago,the discussion turned contentious.  

10% Cut in Revenue but 2% More Spent - City of Orange Budget

City budgets are a funny animal.  No one outside of city government pays much attention to anything but the one section they use (library, parks, trails, rec programs), and the documents can be very confusing.  City budgets can confusing because there are many "colors of money" being sliced and diced to go into different funds.

What is interesting is spending in Orange actually will go up by 2.35% from FY 08-09 to FY 09-10.  When you look at the adopted FY 08-09 budget (the budget laid out in June 2008) http://www.cityoforange.org/depts/finance/operating_budget.asp  and compare to the budget adopted at the City Council meeting on June 9, 2009  (go to http://www.cityoforange.org/depts/cityclerk/agenda_minutes.asp and look up June 9, 2009 to find budget documents), total expenditures went up by over $4 million dollars year to year.  And revenues went down by over $6 million.

Here are the details:

OCTA September Service Cuts - The Details

Plan C - which retains Night Owl service was adopted.  The complete list of changes is available in the agenda packet for the June 8 meeting.   http://www.octa.net  OCTA Director Bill Campbell negotiated that span trips with 8 or more riders can be saved, for now.  Those trip reductions are listed here because staff is able to make changes to schedule to combine trips to save span service.

Here's a summary.

Line 20 La Habra - Yorba Linda Via Imperial Hwy

Increase weekday time between trips from 60 to 95 minutes.

Line 21 - Fullerton - Huntington Beach via Valley View St/Bolsa Chica Rd

Delete 5 weekday trips. Weekday span trips with more than 8 riders may be saved.

Line 24 - Fullerton - Orange via Malvern Ave/Chapman Ave/Tustin Ave

Delete 3 weekday trips.  Weekday span trips with more than 8 riders may be saved.

Line 26 - Fullerton - Yorba Linda via Commonwealth Ave/Yorba Linda Blvd

Delete 3 weekday trips. Weekday span trips with more than 8 riders may be saved.

Line 29 - Brea - Huntington Beach via La Habra Blvd/Beach Blvd

Increase peak weekday time between trips from 15 to 20 minutes.  Increase Saturday and Sunday time between trips from 15 to 18 minutes.

Line 33 - Fullerton - Huntington Beach via Magnolia St

 Increase time between trips on Saturday and Sunday from 60 to 65 minutes.

Line 37 - La Habra - Fountain Valley via Euclid St

Delete 2 weekday trips. Weekday span trips with more than 8 riders may be saved.

Line 38 - Lakewood - Anaheim Hills via Del Amo Blvd/La Palma Ave

Increase peak weekday time between trips from 8 to 15 minutes.  Delete 4 trips.   Weekday span trips with more than 8 riders may be saved.

Line 38 - Lakewood - Anaheim Hills via Del Amo Blvd/La Palma Ave

Increase Saturday and Sunday time between trips from 30 to 45 minutes.

Line 43 - La Habra - Costa Mesa via Whittier Blvd/Harbor Blvd

Increase peak weekday time between trips from 10 to 15 minutes.  Increase Saturday time between trips from 20/15 minutes to 25/18 minutes. Increase Sunday time between trips from 15 to 18 minutes.

Line 46 - Los Alamitos - Orange via Ball Rd/Taft Ave

Delete 1 trip. Weekday span trips with more than 8 riders may be saved.

Line 50 - Long Beach - Orange via Katella Ave

Service changed to Short Line service.

OCTA Transit Cuts

http://www.octa.net

Here's a list of what is being cut by the OCTA during 2009.  This is very, very long (about 20+ pages if you're printing it.)

Summary of OCTA June & September 2009 Service Cuts

(Does not include Night Owl Service discontinuation.)

May 28, 2009

Prepared by Reggie Mundekis, [email protected]

What is Impacted

154 Schools & Colleges 

53 Shopping Centers

27 Medical Facilities

40 Employers & Office Parks

52 Government Facilities

52 Recreation & Other Facilities

32 Transportation Centers & Connectors 

OCTA Cutting Our Chances of Economic Recovery - Pt 4

Who Rides the Night Owl?

Night Owl late night, all night, bus service will be cut on 4 lines starting September 2009.  For many people who work at night, this is their only source of transportation.  Losing this way to work may make them try to find another job they can get to using the resources they have.  To many people, these workers are invisible - they work at night, at jobs most people never think of, and we never see them.

What do they do at night?  Take care of patients in hospitals and other health care facilities.  Wash our tablecloths and uniforms.  Perform maintenance and housekeeping.  Stock store shelves.  They keep much of our world looking very nice.  And we hardly ever see them or think about them.

Where can't you get to work now, well after the rest of us have gone to bed?

Some of the places you won't get to are:

OCTA Cutting Our Chances of Economic Recovery - Pt 3

Once is not enough, apparently not when the OCTA cuts bus service.  Four routes are being cut twice - once in June and again in September.    Here are those routes and the impacts.

Line	Route	Impacts
20	La Habra to Yorba Linda	June Eliminate 6:44PM Eliminate 7:34 PM eastbound September Increase time between trips from 30 to 45 minutes Destinations Impacted:   Downtown Yorba Linda, Yorba Linda Community Center,  Brea Gateway Center, Brea Promenade, Brea Mall, La Habra Marketplace and 2 schools
33	Fullerton to Huntington Beach	June  Increase time between trips from 30 to 35 minutes September  On Sunday, increase time between trips from 60 to 65 minutes Destinations Impacted: 10 schools, Little Saigon, and Huntington State Beach
46	Los Alamitos to Orange	June Eliminate total of 8 trips during morning and afternoon peak periods.  Create a new short turn routing between The Village at Orange and Knott Avenue that terminates at Orange and Knott Avenues.  Increase the time between trips from 20 to 24 minutes during the afternoon. September  On Sunday, cut last eastbound trip. Destinations Impacted: 11 schools, Orange Library, Greyhound Station, Disneyland, Anaheim General Hospital, Western Medical Center  - Anaheim
177	Foothill Ranch to Laguna Hills	June Weekday cuts - Cut 6:38 PM & 7:13 PM northbound  and 5:15 AM  southbound trips. Saturday and Sunday cuts - Increase time between trips from 45 to 60 minutes all day September Saturday and Sunday - Increase time between trips from 60 minutes to 90 minutes all day Destinations Impacted: 1 school, Foothill Ranch Market Place, Foothill Ranch Towne Center, Baker Ranch Plaza, Foothill Corporate Centre, Laguna Hills Mall, Saddleback Hospital.

http://www.octa.net/

OCTA Cutting Our Chances of Economic Recovery - Pt 2

OCTA  http://www.octa.net/ will make more cuts in September 2009, in addition to the June 2009 cuts.  This round of cuts will impact your ability to get to:

• 129 Schools and Colleges 
• 43 Shopping Centers, Malls, and Shopping Districts 
• 19 Hospitals and Medical Facilities 
• 32 Employers and Office Parks 
• 39 Civic Centers, Senior Centers , Libraries and other Government facilities
• 24 Park & Rides and Transit Connectors 
• 40 Parks, Beaches and other destinations

These cuts make it difficult to get to work, go to school, obtain medical care, go shopping for food and clothing, get books from a public library, get to a park or beach, and conduct business with the government.  If you depend on the bus, you are slowly being cut off from being able to compete in our local economy.

Trip Frequency and Service Reductions Starting September 2009

Starting in September 2009, replan your trip if you need to get to these destinations.  You can still get there, but it may be tricky, depending on when you need to be there, how long you need to stay, and what other connections you need to make to arrive at your final destination.  Here are the details:

OCTA Cutting Our Chances of Economic Recovery - Pt 1

OCTA http://www.octa.net/ is making severe, deep cuts to balance a budget.  These cuts are severe and will impact our local economy.  These cuts make it difficult to get to school, work, medical care, government facilities, other transportation, and recreational opportunities.  This will impact our recovery from the current economic crisis.  How can you hold a job you can't get to?  How can you go to college when you can't afford to get to classes?  How do you get to a doctor's appointment if you don't have a car or can't drive?

And, the cuts to service to transit connectors like Park & Rides and Metrolink stations mean no more saving money and energy with public transportation for some people.  If you can't get from the station to where you need to go, why take the train or carpool?

Where are the cuts and who will they hurt? 

• 78 Schools and Colleges have reduced service 
• 27 Shopping Centers, Malls, and Shopping Districts have less transit service
• 14 Hospitals and Medical Facilities have fewer buses available
• 17 Employers and Office Parks have fewer trips to bring employees to work
• 27 Civic Centers, Senior Centers and Libraries have fewer buses to get residents to city  services
• 22 Park & Rides and Transit Connectors have fewer ways to move people to and from the sites
• 13 Parks and Beaches have fewer trips to bring people to recreational opportunities

This is Part 1 of a series. The other stories in the series will examine the impact of the cuts starting June 14 and the proposed September 2009 cuts.

Trip Frequency and Service Reductions Starting June 14, 2009

Nearly 15% Rate Hike Proposed in Serrano Water District

Serrano Water District (SWD) is raising rates starting in July 2009. A public hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, June 9 at 8:30 AM at the SWD offices.

Residential rates will change as follows:

2009/10

Current Rate $2.17

Proposed Rate $2.49

% Change from Current Rate 14.7% Increase

2010/11

Current Proposed Rate $2.49

New Proposed Rate $2.74

% Increase from $2.17  Rate 26.3% Increase