26 January 2014
Emporia Area Chamber of Commerce and Convention & Visitors Bureau
HEALTH CENTER TO MAKE SCHEDULE CHANGE
TO HEALTH DEPARTMENT SERVICES JAN. 1
FHCHC/LCHD to continue
providing other health services
5 days a week Due to budget
cuts at the county level, Flint Hills
Community Health Center/Lyon
County Health Department will
no longer offer Public Health and
Environmental Health services on
Fridays, starting Jan. 1. This change
does not affect the medical, dental
and behavioral health services the
health center offers as a Federally
Qualified Health Center. Public and
Environmental Health employees
will still be working Fridays to
complete other tasks. Lyon County
residents will no longer be able
to walk in on Fridays for services
like immunizations, STD testing,
pregnancy screenings, Child Care
Licensing or for Environmental
Health assistance. Public Health
and Environmental Health services
will still be open to the public
Monday through Thursday, just as
before.
The county contracts with
the health center to provide its
mandated health department
services, including Public and
Environmental Health. [Women
Infants and Children (WIC), Child
Care Licensing, and Emergency
Preparedness are also health
department services but are funded
through a contract with the state.]
The county does not fund the
medical, dental and behavioral
health services offered at the health
center.
For 2014, the health center
asked the county for level funding
for health department services –
the same $608,833 it received
for 2013. In August, the County
Commission cut this amount by
$28,833. In September, the health
center sought direction for which
services these cuts should come
from, and Commissioners directed
the health center to make that
decision.
“Because we are a service
organization, the only way to
handle budget cuts is to reduce
personnel,” said health center CEO
Phillip Davis. “We made the difficult
decision to eliminate a Public
Health ward clerk position and put
those duties on the remaining Public
and Environmental Health staff.
“After much deliberation, it was
determined that the best way to
do this would be to close Public
and Environmental Health to the
public on Fridays, allowing those
staff members to complete other
tasks like disease investigation,
environmental administrative duties,
supply ordering, inventory and
data entry.”
Davis said this will not change
the quality of services the health
center provides – whether those
are medical, dental and behavioral
health services or Public and
Environmental Health services paid
for by the county.
“The health department services
in Lyon County have an excellent
reputation within the state,” Davis
said, “and our goal is to do what
we can to keep those services
at that level with the funding we
receive.”
GREENWOOD COUNTY
In November, the health center
was awarded a federal grant
of $877,500 to open a satellite
location in Eureka to serve the
residents of Greenwood and
Woodson counties. With this grant,
the health center will provide
the same medical, dental and
behavioral health services on a
sliding-fee scale it provides at its
Emporia location.
The health center will not offer
health department services from
the Eureka location, and no Lyon
County dollars will be used to
provide services there.
“We are excited to continue
our mission of promoting the
community’s health in this new
location as well,” Davis said.
For more information about
the reduced health department
services offered in Lyon County or
about the new satellite location in
Eureka, visit www.flinthillshealth.
org or the health center’s social
media sites for updates. Call 620342-4864 with questions. FHCHC/
LCHD offers medical, dental,
behavioral health and public health
services on a sliding-fee scale, and
serves residents with and without
insurance. FHCHC/LCHD works
to promote the health and wellbeing of the entire community and
provides health department services
through a contract with Lyon
County..