ABOUT THE SPA
The South Area Health Office, Service Planning Area 6, also called SPA 6, is one of eight Area Health Offices created with the purpose of planning public health and clinical services according to the health needs of local communities. The SPA 6 boundaries are irregular and proceed accordingly:- Along the border of the neighboring cities of Inglewood and Culver City, extending South and East along portions of La Cienega Blvd, Fairfax Ave, Van Ness Ave, Vermont Ave, and Figueroa Street to the West
- Along the southeastern tip of downtown and the city boundaries of Vernon, Huntington Park, South Gate, Downey, and Bellflower forming the Eastern Border
- Along the Los Angeles city communities such as Mid-City, Country Club Park, Pico Union, and Koreatown to the North
- With the city boundaries of Carson and Long Beach, and the unincorportated areas of Rancho Dominguez to the South
It encompasses the four Health Districts of Compton, South, Southeast, and Soutwest. SPA 6 includes the cities of Compton, Lynwood, and Paramount, and the Los Angeles County areas of Crenshaw, Jefferson Park, Watts, and Willowbrook. Though small, 71.3 square miles, it is a densely populated area with an estimated population of 1 million.
MISSION STATEMENT
To develop, implement, and institutionalize a strategic planning and management capability that enables the Area Health Office to:1) Integrate SPA 6 health services (public, personal and private) with community health projects and organizations; and
2) To lead, strengthen and support this coordinated effort to: reduce the burden of disease improve the well-being of the population, and refine the planning, management, implementation and evaluation of health care delivery systems.
HOW WE FULFILL OUR MISSION
Participating in the overall partnership between Service Planning Area 6 Health Office and the area's constituencies by:- Developing and producing target community needs assessments;
- Developing guidelines for health promotion and education activites;
- Evaluating action plans and health promotion and education strategies;
- Providing consultation and technical assistance to other county profesionals, health advocates and community based organizations, and local school districts on program planning of health promotion and education activities.
SPA 6 DEPARTMENTS
Maxine Liggins, MD AREA MEDICAL DIRECTOR
ADMINISTRATION (323) 235-6732
COMMUNITY WORKERS Responsible for administering directly observed therapy (DOT), transporting patients to care, providing assistance in the clinics, translating for patients, conducting community outreaches and assisting with health center operations.
EPIDEMIOLOGY Provides technical advice and consultation. Designs, conducts, analyzes, and prepares reports on epidemiologic surveys by analyzing available surveillance data, or by collecting or supervising the collection of new data.
HEALTH EDUCATION The mission of Health Education is to guarantee the optimum health and well-being of the community by providing to its members the means to become actively involved in health promotion programs, on using available resources for their families, and to participate in the design and implementation of creative strategies that address and prevent the occurrence of the social/cultural, economic and environmental conditions that enable disease within the boundaries of the Service Planning Area 6.
PUBLIC HEALTH NURSING Responsible for community outreach, epidemiologic investigation, disease control, preventing communicable diseases and disaster response.
PUBLIC HEALTH INVESTIGATION Responsible for identifying and investigating sources of communicable diseases, locating patients with communicable diseases, dealing with recalcitrant or non-compliant patients who expose others to communicable diseases and, when necessary, PHIs become the legal enforcement of public health.
SPA 6
The South Service Planning Area (SPA 6) is one of 8 Service Planning Areas of Los Angeles County. SPA 6 includes the cities of Compton, Lynwood, and Paramount, and the communities of Crenshaw, Jefferson Park, Watts, and Willowbrook. The SPA also includes the unincorporated areas of Florence Firestone, Athens, parts of View Park/Windsor Hills/Baldwin Hills, and East Compton.SPA 6 is home to approximately 1 million residents.
