County defunds health agency
By Steve Herring
Published in News on May 29, 2015 1:46 PM
Nonprofits have been in the crosshairs of Wayne County commissioners for the past couple of years. But Thursday only two, Literacy Connections and WATCH (Wayne Action Teams for Community Health), were singled out for attention.
Literacy Connections survived the chopping block. It will receive $101,232, not the $108,432 it had asked for. But it is still not completely clear of scrutiny or threat of having its funding eliminated.
To continue to receive county funding, the organization might be required to limit its services to only Wayne County residents who are in the country legally.
WATCH didn't dodge the ax, and the $220,000 it had requested in county funding will instead go to Wayne County Public Schools.
The county has a legal obligation to fund the schools at an "adequate level," but not WATCH, County Manager George Wood said during his Thursday morning budget presentation.
Several other nonprofits are funded in the 2015-16 budget proposal: Old Waynesborough, $35,000; Goldsborough Battlefield, $10,000; Wayne County Historical Association, $20,000; the Arts Council of Wayne County, $25,000; and Friends of Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, $150,000.
Final approval of the budget rests with commissioners.
"The Literacy Connections is not tracking whether the clients are either citizens of the U.S. or legally residing in this country," Wood said. "I recommend that you enter into a written contract with this agency that as a condition of county funding that it must develop a policy to only provide services to U.S. citizens and those residing in this county legally.
"They must also adopt a policy to ensure that this is documented on a monthly basis and submit it to the county."
Later in the meeting Commissioner Joe Gurley's suggestion that only legal Wayne County residents could utilize the program drew a favorable response.
Commissioner Ray Mayo asked Wood what the recommendation was based on since community colleges are required to enroll a person regardless of their citizenship or legal status.
"It comes down to a philosophical thing if you think taxpayers should pay for the services," Wood said.
That is the case for the community colleges, Mayo said.
"That is a state decision," Wood said.
Regardless, taxpayers are still footing the bill, Mayo said.
"The big difference is that is a state decision and this is a county decision," Chairman Wayne Aycock said.
One way to end the issue would be to stop funding Literacy Connections, Aycock said.
Commissioner Ed Cromartie told the board that the people who benefit the most from the program are the employers of the people learning to read and speak English.
Aycock asked Cromartie if he thought that if (Aycock) went to Mexico to work that an employer there would teach him Spanish.
Cromartie he thought so if they wanted to ensure Aycock got the job done.
WATCH is a nonprofit subsidiary agency of Wayne Health Care Corp., which owns Wayne Memorial Hospital, Wood said.
"This program provides services to patients who cannot pay for medical services, and by providing free clinics, that provides it at a much lower rate than if those patients used the emergency department instead," he said. "We reviewed their audit, and they have a sizable fund balance built up that far exceeds the contribution that we are making, which is $220,000.
"In addition, the county became aware of language in the 1985 transfer-of-assets agreement transferring the hospital assets from the county to Wayne Health Care Corp. requiring Wayne Health Care Corp. to provide indigent health care in Wayne County."
Consequently the county has been contributing voluntarily to the support of a program for indigent care that legally is not its responsibility, he said.
Wood said the board of education had absorbed a "number of significant cuts" from state government in recent years.
As such it needs more operating money to cover those costs, he said.
Even though WATCH is a good program, Commissioner Joe Daughtery said that in his opinion the responsibility for funding it rests on the hospital to provide indigent care.
"I really do believe that the hospital will pick up that additional funding and that no clinics will, in fact be closed," he said.
Mayo said that is why he would like to see someone from the hospital during next week's budget hearing.
"I am concerned with making sure that they do get the health care, and if the hospital is not going to do it, who is?" he said. "If WATCH can do medical care for a third less than the cost of the emergency room, at some point in time taxpayers are going to wind up paying for it if they go to the emergency room."
That added cost will be through increased room rates and other medical services at the hospital, Mayo said.
"So taxpayers are going to foot the bill one way or another. Just because it is legally right, doesn't mean that it is morally right," he said. "I want to make sure that this people are going to get the services needed."
If someone is going to WATCH and has one or two jobs and is even on Obamacare, is he or she still considered indigent, he said.
If they go to the emergency room the deductibles and co-pays are so high, who is going to pay for them, Mayo said.
"Does indigent care include people who have insurance coverage even though they can't afford it under Obamacare?" he said. "That is the question. So I want to make sure from my standpoint and my view is that the hospital is going to fund it.
"The key is why don't they join us and come together on this and put this to bed and move forward. That is my question."
Commissioner Bill Pate said his father was a physician and never turned down treating anyone, even if they could not pay.
He never received or asked for any money from the county, Pate said.
"I think the medical profession needs to go back and remember the oath that they took and ensure these people receive medical treatment as needed," he said.