Plan to close health centers advances
The state Department of Health is continuing with plans to close state health centers in 26 counties, including the center in Greene County.
As part of its plan to modernize the system, the department already has closed centers in Carbon, Fulton and Potter counties, consolidating their operations with those of neighboring counties, said Aimee Tysarczyk, department press secretary. It expects to close centers in Beaver, Somerset and Mifflin counties by the end of June, she said.
Tysarczyk couldn’t say when the Greene County center will close. The department is still talking with employees, unions, lease holders and others regarding the remaining centers slated for consolidation, she said.
The department has said its plan will allow health center nurses to spend more time providing services in the community rather than making clients come to them at the centers.
The plan to consolidate 60 health centers into 34 is being implemented despite a lawsuit filed in Commonwealth Court by the Service Employees International Union, which maintains the centers cannot be closed without the legislature’s approval.
The department has no legal authority to reduce the number of centers because of a 1996 law requiring the state to continue operating all public health centers opened as of July 1995, SEIU claims. State Sen. Tim Solobay, D-Canonsburg, and state Rep. Pam Snyder, D-Waynesburg, both joined the suit, citing the need for services provided by the center in Greene County.
The case remains before the court, though a judge earlier denied the union’s request for an injunction that would have halted implementation of the plan while litigation proceeds.
The denial of the injunction allowed the department to move forward with its plan, Tysarczyk said. “There are compelling operational and fiscal reasons for taking this action,” she said. “Delay would only further compromise our mission and cause the department to incur unnecessary expenses.”
The Greene County center on Oakview Drive in Franklin Township is staffed by one nurse and a secretary. It provides immunizations to people who are uninsured or under-insured, conducts HIV and STD testing and holds flu and tuberculosis clinics. The center is to be consolidated with the Washington County center.
Tysarczyk said the Greene County center serves about one walk-in client a week though it sees more than 100 clients off site each week, which illustrates the need to have nurses out in the community.
“Our plan will increase access to public health services by mobilizing personnel into the communities,” Tysarczyk said. The department will continue to deliver services in every county. People will not have to travel to other counties for services, she said.
The department will have its nurses at regularly scheduled events in each county or nurses will go to people’s homes, as needed, to provide health services, she said. Residents will be able to call the center and someone will respond and arrange for services.
“This plan will bring the state health center nurses to more people throughout the commonwealth, as well as help us better serve communities based on the needs of public health today,” Tysarczyk said. No community health nurses at the state health centers will be furloughed, she said.
Though center nurses may not be furloughed, the plan has already resulted in the elimination of 22 nursing positions at the district level, said Kevin Hefty, SEIU vice president. This has resulted in eight nurse furloughs at the district offices.
The union believes closing centers will result in a reduction of services. “There are enough health problems in Greene County that a nurse should be assigned to Greene County,” Hefty said. A person who works in the county and who gets to know the community becomes better aware of the health issues facing residents, he said.
The union has appealed the judge’s ruling denying the injunction to the state Supreme Court, he said.