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For Maria Levando, a 20-year patient at the clinic, the staff is truly a family: “In these economic times we cannot afford to have insurance, so the Glendale Health Center is a lifeline for me. The center has provided excellent, caring, efficient service and it would be such a waste to close the clinic or bring privatization which we’re not even sure how it’s going to work.”“I understand the importance of having a strong patient-provider relationship,” says Dr. Jose Luis Hernandez, a resident physician of internal medicine at LAC+USC and delegate of the Committee of Interns and Residents, SEIU. ” I know that a breaking of this relationship will ultimately lead to patients ending up in overburdened emergency rooms and will lead to patients delaying care or lead to conditions worsening costing more lives and money.”
Nayiri Nahabedian, a member of the Glendale Board of Education which serves over 26,000 students emphasized the importance of community based care. “I want to make sure that students, their parents and grandparents have a place to get medical care. I want it to be right here in town. I want it to be great service. And this center provides great service with high levels of patient satisfaction and with languages that represent our community right here in Glendale.”
John Tanner, Executive Director of SEIU 721 spoke of the broader picture of health care reform and questioned the county’s foresight: “It makes no sense whatsoever at a time when we should be focused on strengthening and integrating public health services, to fragment public health services by contracting out this facility. One of the bidders dropped out. Is that what the future of the community here is going to be? Contracting out, fragmenting services and disrupting the reliable access of the community to the Glendale Health Center?