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November 6, 2002
TOP BUSH ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL VISITS HARBOR-UCLA;
HARMAN HAILS MEASURE B VICTORY AND PUSHES
FOR FUNDING FOR ALL COUNTY TRAUMA CENTERS
-- Administrator Scully has authority to provide LA
County federal funding for healthcare --
Torrance - Congresswoman Jane Harman (D-Redondo Beach) today welcomed
to Harbor-UCLA the Bush Administration official ultimately responsible
for determining whether to provide federal funds to Los Angeles County's
ailing health care system - Administrator Tom Scully, Centers for Medicare
and Medicaid, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
"Measure B was yesterday's big winner. Today's visit by Administrator
Scully means L.A.'s healthcare is on the post-election agenda," said
Harman. "This is a chance for Tom Scully to see that keeping Harbor-UCLA
and all other county trauma centers open is the difference between life
and death. Los Angeles is a top terrorist target and we cannot dismantle
our public health system with danger so close to us."
"With the passage of Measure B yesterday, the people of Los Angeles
sent a message loud and clear that we are willing to pony up to keep our
hospitals and clinics open," said Harman. "Now the Administration
must do its part and come through with additional funding to keep this
entire system afloat. Additional reforms are needed in the county's system
and in the way federal funding is provided, including increasing the Upper
Payment Limit (UPL)."
"There is no time left for finger pointing," said Harman. "All
levels of government must partner together. I am pleased that staff negotiations
have begun in earnest. The proposed November 19th date to implement closures
at the county level, the proposed January 2003 special session of the
state legislature and federal action on the 2003 budget need to be aligned
if we are going to achieve real progress."
A longtime advocate for the county's healthcare system, Congresswoman
Harman was a vocal supporter of Measure B. Harman also successfully joined
with Councilwoman Janice Hahn and others in calling on the Los Angeles
County Board of Supervisors to delay their vote on possible hospital closures
originally scheduled for October 29.
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