On July 23, The Sacramento County Superior Court will hear a team of attorneys argue that the recent budget cuts made to the County Medical Indigent Services Program are in violation of the California Welfare and Institutions Code.

Lead Counsel Stacy Wittorff from Legal Services Northern California and Abbi Coursolle from the Western Center on Law and Poverty will represent the petitioners in the case of Poole v. County of Sacramento in an effort to maintain what medical services the County offered prior to the recent passage of the 2010-2011 county budget.

At least 725 county employees will be laid off, and program budgets will be heavily reduced as a result of the county budget approved by the Board of Supervisors on June 17 in a 3-2 vote. With that vote, the county balanced the budget, closing a $181 million deficit.

The petitioners in the case include two chronically ill recipients of county health care and Sacramento homeless services provider Loaves & Fishes.

Once Executive Director Libby Fernandez of Loaves & Fishes learned of the budget cuts, she sprung into action.

“When I heard they were going to cut 50 percent of primary care and two of the clinics, I called Legal Services of Northern California,” she said.

Loaves & Fishes has been working with the homeless in Sacramento since 1983. The organization provides many services to the homeless, including health and legal services and a school for homeless children.

“We have a pretty good sense of what the needs and lack of services are out there,” Fernandez said.

Wittorff said that the county has specific obligations to provide last-resort medical care for those who can not otherwise get it.

“They have absolutely fallen below the line of their legal obligation,” she said.

Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Allen Sumner issued a temporary restraining order on July 1 that blocks the cuts from taking effect. The July 23 hearing will decide whether Sumner issues a preliminary injunction. This would extend a hold on the cuts until the fall, when the case can be heard in full.

“The cuts in medical services may have a significant impact on the county’s ability to provide medically necessary services promptly and humanely as the Legislature has required by sections 17000 and 10000 (of the California Welfare and Institutions Code),” Sumner said.

Sumner’s order also puts a temporary stop to five-week waits for active dental abscesses and reducing the number of physicians on staff. Without the restraining order, patient appointments would have been reduced by 100 per day, with delays of several months, according to a press release from LSNC.

“We would concede that there is a legal obligation to provide medical services to our indigent population,” County Counsel Bob Ryan said.

The county is arguing that how these services are provided is open to interpretation, especially in these fiscally troubling times, and that the new budget does meet the obligations of the county.

The County Medical Indigent Services Program is for seriously ill residents who are uninsured, do not qualify for Medi-Cal or other programs, and cannot otherwise afford medical care.

Supervisors Roberta MacGlashan and Roger Dickinson voted against the budget’s general fund allocations. Supervisors Don Nottoli, Susan Peters and Jimmie Yee voted in support of passing the budget.

Dickinson objected because he said he thought it did not make social services a higher priority.

“We have an obligation, a duty, particularly as a county, to address those who are the least among us,” he said.

Supervisor Don Nottoli said he felt a responsibility to pass a budget for the county, even with the included compsomises.

“The bottom line is that there’s not sufficient funding,” Nottoli said. “Yes, we prioritize, and we make decisions.”

Staff Reporter Kathleen Haley contributed to this report.