UAPD-represented doctors in the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (DHS), Department of Mental Health (DMH), Department of Public Health (DPH), and the Sheriff’s Department medical services are in support of a new plan to unite the departments into a single agency. Integration will give doctors the tools they need to improve patient care, including a single electronic health record system. Providing comprehensive health care at a single point of entry is not only better for the patients, it is cost-effective. Integration will save money by avoiding the duplication of services that happens when people are passed between multiple departments for their health care, for example. A single, well-managed agency can help the County meet the challenges of running a large health care system. Los Angles doctors have been impressed by the progress that Dr. Mitch Katz has made at DHS, and hope that he will be able to continue this work as the head of the new agency.
Read UAPD President Dr. Stuart Bussey’s thoughts on department integration in the Union Pulse.