The West Valley Mental Health Clinic, which serves clients living in Los Gatos and Saratoga, will be shut down if the county approves proposed cuts to the health care system next month.

As a result, 235 outpatients, 4¹/2 counselors, one part-time psychiatrist and 3¹/2 clerical workers will move to Valley Medical Center, according to Nancy Peña, director of the mental health department of the Santa Clara Valley Health & Hospital System. Valley Medical Center is seven miles away and the nearest facility to the West Valley clinic.

Though all counselors and their case loads will be transferred, Andrew Hagelshaw of the Service Employees International Union, to which Santa Clara County employees belong, is still concerned by the change in location.

"Seven miles maybe doesn't seem like such a big deal for you or me, but it may be for someone with a mental health problem," he said, adding that some of these clients might not be fit to drive.

Central Mental Health was chosen as the alternate location because it is close by and there is a good public transportation system running through that area, Peña said.

Leigh Kern, a Los Gatos resident who has been receiving treatment at the West Valley clinic for 15 years, is devastated by the news that the facility might close.

"This has been a good place for me to go. I feel safe here," she said.

"It might make a lot of people go backwards," she said, referring to patients' progress in maintaining a stable lifestyle.

Of the 37,223 episodes of mental health care the county provides each year, 2,381 will be reduced next year, said Matt Schenone, a spokesman for the Valley Health & Hospital System. One episode of care is equivalent to one visit to the clinic. The reduction in episodes does not necessarily mean that the county will serve fewer clients but that visits will occur less frequently, Schenone said.

The county will continue to serve the same number of mental health clients overall, Peña said.

Robert Sillen, executive director of the Valley Health & Hospital System, stated in the organization's April newsletter that the health and hospital system is preparing for an operating budget of $1.1 billion for the next fiscal year.

Of the $33.5 million in cuts overall, Sillen reported that the mental health department must shave $7.6 million off its budget. He also calculated that a reduction of 2,381 episodes of care equates to a 6.4 percent decrease in services for that department. According to Peña, the department has proposed eliminating two administrative positions to save $168,000.

Budget hearings will begin the week of June 16. The county's board of supervisors is expected to adopt next year's budget by June 20.