Los Angeles County may close most of its clinics

Facing a deficit, Los Angeles County healthcare officials have unveiled a cost-cutting plan that calls for closing all but one of the county's dozen clinics and reduces services at its six comprehensive outpatient health centers. The proposal would dramatically retreat from the county's longtime role in providing primary care to the indigent. The clinics and comprehensive centers get about 400,000 primary care visits a year, nearly two-thirds from uninsured patients.