Clinic plans for finanacial stability in '10

The financially strapped Wahkiakum Family Practice Clinic should become financially stable in 2010, managers and advisors said at a community meeting in Cathlamet November 12.

That is the goal of the advisory board appointed last year by the county board of commissioners to develop a successful business model for the clinic.

The advisory group, consisting of professionals and persons with backgrounds in business or the health care fields, quickly concluded that the solution was to "grow" the clinic, not cut staff and services to meet revenues, said spokesperson Sandi Benbrook-Rieder. The committee concluded that a physician working with a team of nurse practitioners and other clinicians would be able to generate sufficient revenue to make the clinic financially viable.

However, that financial viability must include community and patient financial support optimally around $190,000 per year, Benbrook-Rieder said.

There was much discussion of the effort to raise $238,000 in voluntary contributions, based on on $120, or $10 per month per year, per adult patient, The funds are needed "to wean the clinic off Wahkiakum County" financing, said advisory board member David Goodroe. So far this year, the effort has raised only $30,000 for the Keep the Clinic Operating (KCO) fund.

Several members of the audience, which numbered 18 persons, suggested the effort had been poorly presented to the community. After more discussion, many volunteered to work on the fundraising effort.

Advisory board member Judy Bright noted that in community meetings in 2007 in Rosburg and Cathlamet, citizens overwhelmingly supported continued operation of the clinic, but they said they didn't want to pay a tax to support the clinic.

However, when asked at the end of the meeting if they were willing to pay a property tax to support the clinic, all members of the audience raised their hands in support.

Such a tax would have to be approved by voters. County commissioners may address the issue in a meeting later this month or in early December when they adopt their 2009 budgets.

Goodroe noted that the clinic will have a revenue shortfall this year, as much as $50,000, largely because of staff changes. With staff stability and the addition of another nurse practitioner, revenues should improve, he said.

"This clinic is not closing," he said. "This clinic has bled money for the last 15 years, but we now see light at the end of the tunnel. We can't do it instantly; we need transition time."

"We have had three different analyses, including one by the Washington Department of Health," said Dr. Janice McClean, clinic medical director. "Their analysis is that we should be able to do this."

The advisory board also recommended development of a method to provide oversight and governance of the clinic and development of a method for funding expansion of the clinic so that clinicians could see more patients.

On Tuesday, county commissioners approved a temporary contract with Betsy Johnson, a nurse practitioner who worked at the clinic earlier this year on another short-term contract.