| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | November 5, 2015 |
| Jurisdiction | Los Angeles County |
| Employees | 31,887 |
| Annual budget | US$6.942 billion |
| Agency executive |
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| Child agencies | |
| Website | ceo |
The Los Angeles County Health Agency (sometimes stylized as Health Agency of Los Angeles) is a Los Angeles County agency, tasked in 2015 by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors with coordinating integration efforts of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, and the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. The health departments that compose the agency are among the United States' largest. [1] The agency was established to coordinate and streamline the county's physical health, behavioral health, and public health care services, programs, and policies under a single integrated system of care. [2] [3] The Health Agency was led by Mitchell H. Katz from 2015 to 2017. [4] Fred Leaf began serving as interim director in December 2017 and was appointed director beginning January 22, 2019. [5] [6]
On February 18, 2020, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors directed the three health departments to continue integration efforts through the Los Angeles County Alliance for Health Integration. [7] [8] [9] The staffing and infrastructure costs of the Alliance were pooled with 50% from the Department of Health Services, 35% from the Department of Mental Health, and 15% from the Department of Public Health with the chair of the Alliance rotating annually between the three health department directors. [10] On March 1, 2023, the seven Alliance for Health Integration staff were transferred to the Department of Mental Health. [11]
In FY 2015–16, the three departments comprising the Los Angeles County Health Agency had a combined annual budget of US$6,942,989,000, constituting about 25% of the county's total annual budget. [12] [13] The County Health Agency employs 31,887 employees. [14]
From 1972 to 1978, the Los Angeles County Department of Health (now the Department of Health Services) provided the full continuum of physical, mental and public health services and functions. [15] [16] However, in 1978, the county established the Department of Mental Health to provide behavioral health services, amid concerns that funding for mental health services was being diverted to the county's hospitals. [12] [17] In 2006, the Department of Public Health was separated from the Department of Health Services, during a major budget deficit. [17] [12]
On January 13, 2015, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors publicly directed the Chief Executive Office to assess the feasibility of consolidating the county's three health departments into a single unified health agency. [18] This was preceded by correspondence between the Board and Mitchell Katz, the then current director of Health Services, who had submitted a confidential proposal to integrate the three departments on January 2, 2015. [19] [20]
On October 6, 2015, the Board adopted an ordinance to create the Health Agency, effective November 5, 2015. [21] The proposal was criticized by community advocates, providers, and labor unions, who have argued that physical health services would be prioritized above mental and public health services, and potential conflicts of interest. [22] [23] [17] The Health Agency is led by the Health Agency Director, who oversees, manages, coordinates, monitors and evaluates the Agency's programs and services. [24]
During the COVID-19 pandemic the department was criticized for its handling of nursing homes. [25]
Calabasas is a city in the southwestern region of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Situated between the foothills of the Santa Monica and Santa Susana mountains, 29.9 miles (48.1 km) northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Calabasas has a population of 22,491.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (LACBOS) is the five-member governing body of Los Angeles County, California, United States.
Jesús Gloria Molina was an American politician who served as a member of the Los Angeles City Council, the California State Assembly, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACoFD) provides firefighting and emergency medical services for the unincorporated parts of Los Angeles County, California, as well as 59 cities through contracting, including the city of La Habra which is located in Orange County and is the first city outside of Los Angeles County to contract with LACoFD.
The first Seal of the County of Los Angeles was established in 1887 and has been changed three times since then. It is used on official county documents, vehicular decals, on buildings, and is displayed on the bear-top shield badge worn by uniformed county officers. It is also featured prominently on the county's flag. The current seal was adopted in 2016 and is identical to a design initially adopted in 2004.
The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner was created in its present form on December 17, 1920 by an ordinance approved by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, although it has existed in some form since the appointment of the first county coroner in 1850. It is headquartered in Boyle Heights. On September 3, 2020, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved the name change for the department, from the Department of Coroner to the Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner.
Los Angeles County Department of Health Services operates the public hospitals and clinics in Los Angeles County, and is the United States' second largest municipal health system, after NYC Health + Hospitals.
The Los Angeles County Office of Public Safety (LACOPS), less formally known as the Los Angeles County Police, was a security police agency for the County of Los Angeles. It was formed in 1998 by consolidating three Los Angeles County law enforcement agencies: the Department of Parks and Recreation Park Police, which was formed in 1969 as Los Angeles County Park Patrol, and the Department of Health Services and Internal Services Department’s Safety Police. OPS was the fourth-largest law enforcement agency in Los Angeles County, which employed 579 sworn peace officers and 140 civilian personnel, and utilized over 800 contract security guards. The agency had an annual budget of $100 million in 2009. OPS was initially a division of the Los Angeles County Department of Human Resources but was placed under the umbrella of the newly created Public Safety branch of the Chief Executive Office in 2007.
The Los Angeles County Chief Executive Office, known as the Los Angeles County Chief Administrative Office from 1938 to 2007, assists the Board of Supervisors of Los Angeles County, California with administrating the county.
University Muslim Medical Association, Inc. (UMMA) Community Clinic is the first Muslim American founded community-based health organization in the United States. Located in South Los Angeles, UMMA has a culturally and religiously diverse staff serving an equally diverse community.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD), officially the County of Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, is a law enforcement agency serving Los Angeles County, California. LASD is the largest sheriff's department in the United States and the fourth largest local police agency in the United States, following the New York Police Department, the Chicago Police Department and the Los Angeles Police Department. LASD has approximately 18,000 employees, 9,915 sworn deputies and 9,244 unsworn members. It is sometimes confused with the unrelated Los Angeles Police Department which provides law enforcement service within the city of Los Angeles, which is the county seat of Los Angeles County.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (DPH) provides public health services to Los Angeles County residents. Barbara Ferrer is the Director for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. Muntu Davis is the Los Angeles County Public Health Officer. Jeffrey Gunzenhauser is the Interim Health Officer and Medical Director for Los Angeles County.
Mitchell H. Katz also known as Mitch Katz) is the President and CEO of New York City Health and Hospitals, the largest public health care system in the United States.
The Government of Los Angeles County is defined and authorized under the California Constitution, California law, and the Charter of the County of Los Angeles. Much of the Government of California is in practice the responsibility of county governments, such as the Government of Los Angeles County. The County government provides countywide services such as elections and voter registration, law enforcement, jails, vital records, property records, tax collection, public health, health care, and social services. In addition the County serves as the local government for all unincorporated areas.
Healthy Way LA (HWLA) was a free public health care program available to underinsured or uninsured, low-income residents of Los Angeles County. The program, administered by the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, was a Low Income Health Program (LIHP) approved under the 1115 Waiver. HWLA helped to narrow the large gap in access to health care among low-income populations by extending health care insurance to uninsured LA County residents living at 0 percent to 133 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). Individuals eligible for HWLA were assigned to a medical home within the LA County Department of Health Services (LADHS) or its partners, thus gaining access to continuous primary care, preventive and specialty services, mental health services, and other support systems. HWLA was one of the few sources of coordinated health care for disadvantaged adults without dependents in LA County. HWLA was succeeded by My Health LA, a no-cost health care program for low-income Los Angeles County residents launched on October 1, 2014.
The Los Angeles County Public Defender's (LACPD) office is an agency of the government of Los Angeles County. LACPD was the first public defender agency in the United States. The current public defender is Ricardo García.
My Health LA is a no-cost health care program for low-income Los Angeles County residents, designed to benefit between 400,000 and 700,000 LA County residents who are ineligible for Medi-Cal, most of those being undocumented immigrants.
Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) is an agency of the government of Los Angeles County. DCFS's operations involve investigating child welfare and abuse allegations, foster care, and adoption.
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development estimated that more than 171,500 people were experiencing homelessness in California in January 2022. This represents 30% of the homeless population of the United States even though California has slightly less than 12% of the country's total population, and is the highest per capita rate in the nation, with 0.44% of residents being homeless. More than two-thirds of homeless people in California are unsheltered, which is the highest percentage of any state in the United States. Half of the unsheltered homeless people in the United States live in California: about 115,500 people, which is nine times as many as the state with the second highest total. Even those who are sheltered are so insecurely, with 90% of homeless adults in California reporting that they spent at least one night unsheltered in the past six months.
The 2022 Los Angeles County elections were held on November 8, 2022, in Los Angeles County, California, with nonpartisan blanket primary elections for certain offices being held on June 7. Two of the five seats of the Board of Supervisors were up for election, as well as two of the countywide elected officials, the Sheriff and the Assessor. In addition, elections were held for the Superior Court, along with two ballot measures.
