Clinic Staff Blames Remodel for Illnesses

More than half of the employees at a Hollywood health clinic have filed workers’ compensation claims in the last month, citing illnesses caused by ongoing renovation that included asbestos removal.

Twenty-seven of 50 employees at the county-run Hollywood-Wilshire Health Center have filed industrial accident reports. They claim the construction work has caused heavy dust, unidentified fumes, excessive noise and possible asbestos exposure.

In addition, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health is investigating the death of a clinic staff member last month, a spokeswoman confirmed. Co-workers say the man’s AIDS-compromised immune system was unable to fight a fungus that he may have inhaled at the clinic. Top county health officials said several tests did not show the presence of any fungus in the building.

In general, the officials insisted that they had done everything possible to protect employees and patients, including sealing off areas where asbestos was being removed.

But in a Jan. 29 memo obtained by The Times, the health department’s own project manager told one of his supervisors that he shared the workers’ safety concerns. He blamed the contractors.

“The main theme throughout this project has been emphasis on the construction workers’ convenience at the expense of patient/staff safety,” project manager Jaime Banuelos wrote in a Jan. 29 memo to Dr. Ricardo Calderon, the health officer for the area.

Banuelos said construction supervisors had not done enough to prevent mechanical problems, such as faulty air conditioning and potential asbestos exposures. He also said that construction workers left tools and equipment in hallways and work areas, further endangering the staff and patients.

After learning of the memo, a county Department of Health Services spokesman acknowledged the county had problems with the contractor throughout the project and said officials would review how to make contractors more accountable in the future. The private contractor, West Coast Nielsen of San Diego, could not be reached for comment late Friday.

On at least two occasions, officials said, the building had to be closed to prevent possible exposure to asbestos.

On Dec. 19, construction workers disconnected vents to work on the air-conditioning system, but turned the system back on before the vents were reconnected. That blew out the asbestos shield erected to protect the work area.

Officials said they do not think that asbestos was spread through the vents because the area had been cleaned of asbestos the day before. The facility was evacuated and remained closed for two days.

Then on Jan. 13--a Sunday--a worker discovered asbestos after opening a second-floor duct. The building was closed for eight days while crews cleaned and tested for particles. On two other occasions during the renovation, the air-conditioning system failed, causing the building to be shut for half a day in each case.

The clinic renovation is now behind schedule. It was supposed to be completed in December but now won’t be finished until late March, county officials said.

Workers say the county hasn’t done enough to protect them.

“We believe there are still safety violations there, as well as concerns about working violations,” said Bart Diener, assistant general manager of the Service Employees International Union, Local 660.

“We certainly understand that this is a department that’s under tremendous financial pressure right now.... Nonetheless, providing safe working environments for workers is a basic need, especially for a health department.”

Most of those complaining of illness have missed at least some work, and nine are still out sick. They report symptoms including sneezing, coughing, asthma, headaches and burning eyes.

“It’s been very uncomfortable,” said a public health investigator, who declined to be identified for fear of retaliation. “It’s like being in Los Angeles during one of the worst smoggy days that you can remember, because you have to breathe all this dust and you have these red eyes and they’re irritated.”

A second employee, a public health nurse who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said she visited her doctor several times with a hacking cough that took a month to go away, even with antibiotics. Some of her colleagues have had similar coughs that have lingered for months, she said.

“We don’t know what we’re at risk for,” she said. “With asbestos

Dr. James Haughton, the county’s public health medical director, acknowledged that drilling into concrete may have produced some dust and that he cannot say “with certainty” that no employee was exposed to asbestos.

But, he said, “all of the federal regulations were met.... When we knew that there was the possibility of asbestos contamination, we shut down the building.”

Haughton said he did not doubt the veracity of employees’ claims, but added, “Some of our employees have a pattern of absenteeism even without the construction.”

Complaints about health problems have persisted since the beginning of the renovation project in late June. Cal/OSHA inspected the building in September after receiving a complaint about air contamination, leaking water from overheated pipes and excessive noise from drilling into concrete.

During their visit, inspectors were unable to validate the complaint, but found other problems such as no written safety plan. They fined the clinic $3,750, said Cal/OSHA spokeswoman Susan Gard.

In January, Cal/OSHA began a separate inquiry into the death of a public health investigator who had AIDS. The 52-year-old man had been HIV-positive for years, and colleagues--suspecting a recent infection was related to the renovation--reported his case to the state agency.

Several workers said that before construction began, the county promised that no work would occur during clinic operating hours.

“And yet the construction went on eight hours a day because it was more cost-effective than paying them for nights and weekends,” said one worker, who declined to be identified. “It was all a question of dollars and cents.”

County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky has been a vocal supporter of the clinic expansion, which would allow the patient load to double to 50,000 a year.

But his deputy, Ron Hansen, said Friday that the supervisor is concerned about the employees’ claims and has asked for a formal report on the alleged problems.