LIBERTY – Patient numbers and revenues are increasing at the Union County Health Clinic, but it might not be enough to save the facility.
In October, the county clinic had 179 patient visits and collected $6,141, with $20,000 more pending insurance payments. Without another state grant in 2015, the clinic might close in January, officials said.
“There is no grant money for us in 2015 unless some other county returns some money,” health secretary Diann Timberman told the county commissioners Monday. “We won’t know that until January.
“We have enough money to pay our nurse practitioner through January, but we have to give her 30 days’ notice, which would be in December. We’re not sure where to go from here.”
The nurse practitioner, who is paid $100,100 annually, is the county’s highest-paid employee. For each of the past two years, the clinic received a $99,000 state grant to help pay that expense.
The county health board’s proposed 2015 budget included $115,400 to pay the nurse practitioner and county health officer if grant funds weren’t available. The county council zeroed that request because of a lack of funds.