Date: January 13, 1995
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Marty Davis, PHS (202) 690-6867

HHS Officials Revisit L.A. Earthquake Sites

HHS Assistant Secretary for Health Philip R. Lee, M.D., and HHS Assistant Secretary on Aging Fernando Torres-Gil will revisit San Fernando Valley earthquake sites tomorrow -- nearly a year after the pre-dawn Northridge Earthquake ravaged the area on Jan. 17, 1994.

The two are part of a Clinton administration follow-up on the effectiveness of post-quake emergency aid, but they will also be looking at recent flood damage and relief activities.

Both federal officials said California has a strong public health system, but that technical support is available where there has been damage to water and sewage systems, as well as public health advisories on flood safety and health issues, mental health grants to support crisis counseling and grants focusing on the special needs of the elderly and children. They said HHS is also working to ensure that Social Security checks are not delayed.

Lee directs the U.S. Public Health Service and Torres-Gil directs the Administration on Aging. Both are Californians currently serving in Washington.

Within days of the earthquake, HHS announced $28 million in emergency response aid to help with child care and senior citizens' programs as well as public health services. Additional emergency response funds were made for various programs:

• More than 27,000 earthquake victims got medical care from a federal health care provider, including 6,000 from Public Health Service-organized Disaster Medical Assistance Teams which set up temporary clinics staffed by volunteers.
  
  
• A toll-free hotline was established for elderly people seeking disaster assistance.
  
  
• The Administration on Aging cut red tape in the disaster fund application process to award $200,000 in grants in two to five days after the state applied for them.

Dr. Lee visited and inspected the medical assistance teams on the scene soon after the earthquake. Tomorrow at noon, he will return with Torres-Gil to a public health clinic -- El Proyecto del Barrio -- that he saw when damaged a year ago. It is an Hispanic family health care clinic damaged during the quake but operating again at a new site next door, 13643 Van Nuys Blvd., Pacoima, Calif.

Dr. Lee, who was professor of social medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, until appointed to head the U.S. Public Health Service in 1993, said, "Our giant state sometimes seems to be served a giant share of problems -- earthquakes, fires, mud slides and now floods.

"But there is a spirited optimism that helps the people rebound. As a Californian working in Washington, I'm pleased that the Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Public Health Service could work through the Clinton administration and its Federal Emergency Management Agency to help."

Torres-Gil and Lee will then visit two Administration on Aging-related sites:

• at about 2 p.m. at the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Adult Day Health Center, 2528 West Blvd., Los Angeles, which was damaged during the quake but has been repaired, and
  
  
• at about 2:45 p.m. at a senior center called People Coordinated Services Multipurpose Senior Center, 5133 South Crenshaw Blvd., Los Angeles, where a large forum will take place with seniors, providers and staff among the participants. The officials hope to obtain views on current needs related to flooding, as well as opinions of post-quake activities.

Torres-Gil, who was born and grew up in Salinas, said, "Nothing in my work with the federal government has given me greater pleasure than helping my native state pull itself to its feet, brush itself off and get back to work. I'm looking forward to hearing from senior citizens -- who have seen a lot of good and a lot of bad over their years -- as they share their views on the quake recovery and on the flooding we've seen in recent days."

After the quake:

• HHS' Center for Mental Health Services supplied more than $22 million in FEMA funding to the California Northridge Crisis Counseling Project known as Project Rebound. More than a million Los Angeles-area residents have made use of these services during the past year.
  
  
• The Health Care Financing Administration, an operating division of HHS, provided uninterrupted payment of Medicare reimbursements. In some cases, it gave advance payment for hospitals and other health care providers. For example, a $700,000 two-week advance payment was supplied to Holy Cross Hospital, whose administrative offices had been destroyed.
  
  
• The National Institutes of Health provided funding to help in the recovery of research programs disrupted by the earthquake.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention established a 24-hour emergency operations center to help watch for possible outbreaks of infectious disease following the quake. (Both agencies are parts of the Public Health Service within HHS.)

HHS continues to supply technical assistance and ongoing financial support to state, local and community agencies.

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