Orange County’s community health clinics are getting downsized as their funding dries up, with plans to cut half of the medical services it offers for residents by the end of June. 

The services in question all come from the county’s clinic on 17th Street in Santa Ana, which will no longer offer emergency dental services, a children’s clinic or a family planning clinic according to county spokesperson Ellen Guevara.  

That means services like physicals for kids, infected teeth removals and vaccines will no longer be available by July. 

In 2024, over 2,000 kids used the children’s health clinic according to Guevara, along with another 450 people using the family planning services while 239 used the emergency dental services. 

“These changes reflect a broader fiscal assessment in which we prioritized mandated services and considered community capacity for continuity of care through other resources, such as Medi-Cal,” Guevara wrote in a Tuesday evening statement. 

America Bracho, CEO of the local nonprofit Latino Health Access, said the situation will likely get worse. 

“What we are seeing at the county level and many other levels is just the beginning,” Bracho said in a phone interview. “When you see a closure from the county that is really worse than anything.”

The drop off comes after President Donald Trump’s administration suspended billions of dollars in healthcare grants to states alongside another $2.9 billion in cuts at the CDC. 

The crunch also comes as county officials are drafting this year’s budget, which is expected to face severe cuts due to drops in state and federal funding, along with payouts for damages from the Airport Fire. 

[Read: Orange County Reins in Public Spending Amidst Possible Budget Shortfall]

That means that more people will slip through the cracks, Bracho said.  

“It is very unfortunate that that is happening because these are the services for the most vulnerable population,” Bracho said in a Tuesday interview. “I think the federal government is not prioritizing vulnerable populations. It’s not prioritizing working families.” 

Some of the clinic’s offerings, like immunizations and pulmonary disease services will remain open according to Guevara, who noted that the cut programs were funded entirely by federal grants. 

But Bracho said people should brace for more cuts to services in the coming months as more grant funding dries up, adding that there aren’t many other places to get these services. 

“If they’re not the only one, they’re one of only a handful of providers,” Bracho said about the clinic. “They have specific clinics that are very relevant.”

Community health clinics were crucial in helping reduce COVID-19 transmission rates during the height of the pandemic.

Their work often centered on working class, largely immigrant communities who lived in overcrowded housing and didn’t have the option of working from home. 

[Read: OC’s Latino Community Remains Behind on COVID-19 Vaccines One Year Later]

Health clinics across Orange County helped isolate sick people through temporary motel stays, offered protective gear and helped roll out vaccines once they became available. 

Meanwhile, it’s unclear if any other groups will step up to provide the various services that are expected to be cut in July.

But, Bracho noted that there are already efforts underway to set up alternatives. 

“How do we navigate this moment in the history of our country? That’s the name of the game,” Bracho said. “We’re just trying to go through this very difficult moment.” 

Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org.