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Show Lame Duck Commission Refuses Clinic Funding As their last act for the year, the County Commission Commis-sion Tuesday refused to channel state monies through the county for the Park City Community Clinic. In a letter to the state health department, the commissioners commissio-ners stated they still preferred prefer-red to see the money granted directly from the state to the clinic, but if that couldn't be done, then they suggested the state provide family planning services for Summit County. The clinic, meanwhile, is still open. They have been able to remain open during December due to several generous contributions, according ac-cording to director Diana Maxell. She said the clinic would remain open in January, Jan-uary, but that the staff would be working without pay. Maxell said she was putting the matter -back on the agenda for the new commission to consider next week. "We're very optimistic optimis-tic the new commission will channel the funds to us" she commented. Even if the new commission commis-sion does take responsibility for the funds going through the county, the clinic will not receive any funds until the end of the month. There are county notices which must be posted, and getting the actual funds from the state will take several days. Maxell said there was no way -they could meet their January Jan-uary 15th payroll even if the commission voted them the funds next week. The clinic has had constant monitary problems since the federal government took their funding away and gave the monies to the state. Rather than start up their own program of family planning in Summit County, the state made it known they would be amendable to the clinic administering the same program they have had, with the funds merely going through the state's bookkeeping. The state and the clinic were in the last stages of working out an agreement between them when the attorney general's office announced monies could not be granted to a private agency, but must go through a governmental agency from the state, in this case the county. At their meeting last week, the county commissioners commissio-ners authorized county health director Frank Singleton Single-ton to attempt to draw up a contract between the state, the county and the clinic for the transfer of funds. However, How-ever, at Tuesday's meeting, the commissioners decided they did not want family planning services to go through the county budget. i They therefore threw the ball back to the state. "We are hoping that the new commissioners will see the matter differently," said Maxell. Maxell said the clinic has gotten a great deal of public support since their money problems started and she hopes the same people will attend the commission meeting meet-ing next Tuesday to let the commissioners know how they feel. |
