UCLA Health members at Venice Family Clinic speak out against pharmacy & drug counseling service closures
On November 14, UPTE members rallied against the closure of pharmacy and drug counseling services at the Colen Health Center. The center is operated by Venice Family Clinic and staffed by UCLA Health employees. UPTE members were joined by People Organizing for Westside Renewal (POWER), Pastor Smart of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Southern California, and former LA City Councilmember Mike Bonin.
The Colen Health Center pharmacy serves a diverse and vulnerable patient population. This includes seniors who need personalized attention to ensure that they receive the correct medication, dosage, discharge education, and information about drug interactions that can potentially have serious implications. It includes parents with young kids, many of whom cannot take multiple buses out of the neighborhood to the next closest pharmacy.
"Some of our patients are undocumented, and many are underinsured or uninsured altogether. Sometimes even if they have insurance, their copays are too high to afford medication elsewhere. This closure means some patients will likely go without any medication. That could cause serious health issues and even death. This is completely unacceptable," said Jeanice Carlson, a pharmacist who has worked at Colen Health Center since 2019.
Kayla Pang, another pharmacist at Colen, agreed: "This is so heart-breaking, because this planned closure goes directly against our mission and values as a clinic. Having access to high-quality pharmacy and drug counseling services in your own neighborhood is something everyone deserves. Shuttering those services here will cause undue hardship for my patients, many of whom are already struggling."
In addition to closing pharmacy services at the Colen Health Center, Venice Family Clinic is also ending drug counseling services at this location. "We are living through an epidemic of meth, fentanyl, crack, opiates, all of these drugs in our streets. We must have resources nearby and in walking distance for the survival of people in our community—the parents, the siblings, the loved ones, the children. We are talking about life and death," said Rose Dominguez, a drug counselor who has worked out of the Colen location.
Venice Family Clinic's stated mission is, "To provide quality primary health care to people in need." It's hard to see how this decision aligns with that mission especially when Venice Family Clinic's financial disclosures show they have their highest year-end balance since FY 2015 at over $12 million. When the top 15 executives are earning over $306,000 per year on average—36 percent more than in FY 2015—it's hard not to wonder how there isn't money to retain life-saving pharmacy and drug counseling services.
On November 9, the Del Rey Neighborhood Council voted to deliver this letter to Venice Family Clinic leadership opposing the closure of pharmacy and drug counseling services at the Colen Health Center and asking them to reverse this decision. Community members also recently delivered a petition to VFC leadership demanding that the clinic remain open, and UPTE members have collected nearly 1,000 signatures on a petition of our own.
