C. Public Health Services

Health Care Services of Santa Barbara County (HCS) is entrusted with meeting the public health needs of Santa Barbara County. The mission of HCS is "to protect the health and safety for all who live in Santa Barbara County, and ensure access to needed health care". The role of HCS is to address local needs, be responsive to the patient, be accountable to the community and local government and meet the legal mandates put forth by the State and Federal governments.

The HCS Director is appointed by the Board of Supervisors and heads one of the largest departments in county government, with over 500 employees and physician contractors working in seven centers throughout the county. The Health Officer and Assistant Director report to the Director. They are responsible for the development and direction of HCS policy, operations, programs, administration and coordination of activities throughout the organization. HCS has seven divisions: Medical Services, Environmental Health Services, Public Health, Human Services, Alcohol and Drug Treatment, Assessment and Health Promotion and Business Services. In addition, each of the seven divisions has a Deputy Director who then reports to the Assistant Director. The Medical Services Division, Environmental Health Services and Public Health Deputy Directors also report to the Health Officer.

HCS Expenditures for Fiscal Year 1996 and 1997 are listed in Table 6.4:

There are Six County Health Clinics with locations in Carpinteria, Santa Barbara, Franklin, Lompoc, Santa Maria and Cuyama.

Table 6.5 lists the number of 1995 encounters experienced by the Public Health Services Division in Lompoc. The majority of these encounters were for primary care followed by prenatal care, family planning, prevention and mental health. Because HCS does not track referrals, table 6.6 showing the sources of referrals to HCS could not be produced.

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