WATCH talks funding, staffing
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on February 15, 2016 1:46 PM
Uncertainty about WATCH funding is still a concern, affecting staffing and the number of days the mobile van is out on the road, the program's executive director told the board recently.
WATCH, or Wayne Action Teams for Community Health, was in a similar position at this time last year, when speculation loomed that the county commission would "defund" the program. Then in June, the board reversed its course and voted instead to simply reduce the funding request in half, to $110,000.
But the move had strings attached, a message for the future -- WATCH should not count on assistance from the county and instead seek other funding sources.
Now it's budget season again and WATCH executive director Sissy Lee-Elmore said the needs are still there for the program that provides health care for the county's uninsured.
There have been several challenges in recent months, she said, starting with staffing.
"(Nurse practitioner) Ann King, was working two days a week. She has been deployed, stateside, and won't be back until June or July," she said. "We have had some concern from the public about the truck not going out."
In recent months, the mobile van clinic that canvasses the county had only been on the road one day a week.
With a patient load of 5,000 in the program, that is problematic, Mrs. Lee-Elmore said.
"Now, we're scheduled out two or three weeks for an appointment," she said.
That gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "managed care," she said.
If some patients are having to wait six to eight weeks for a regular check-up, that is unacceptable, Mrs. Lee-Elmore said.
"We can't manage chronic disease if we can't see the patient," she said Monday. "It was either stop taking new patients or hire another person."
So she hired another staff member.
It is not as simple as it sounds, however.
"It takes three months now to fill a nurse practitioner position," Mrs. Lee-Elmore said.
Fortunately, Kelli Corbett, a nurse practitioner who had previously done a rotation in the program before she was credentialed, has since completed all the requirements and began working in the program recently.
Kathy Johnson, the nurse practitioner who began when the program began and later returned, has also been absorbing some of the overflow, thanks to funds from a Golden LEAF grant.
The problem is not completely resolved, though. Mrs. Lee-Elmore told the board Ms. Corbett is expecting a baby and the program will face the staffing shortage again when she takes maternity leave.
Dr. Ross Wilson, board chairman, who has also been an avid volunteer on the WATCH van, agreed that it takes a "special person" to serve in the role.
"You can't just take anybody and put them in this position," he said. "Their heart has to really be in it. They really need to serve people.
"I realize everybody in the medication profession does that but it 's a little bit more than that in WATCH. That's why people like Ann and Kathy are why WATCH has been so successful."
Board member Gwyn Wilson, who has also volunteered on the van, agreed.
"If you're working in the community, it takes a different kind of person," she said. "It takes a special caring kind of person to understand the people you're working with."
Starting this week the WATCH van will be on the road three days a week. The same holds true in March.
And Mrs. Lee-Elmore, meanwhile, is still holding out hope that the county will come through for the program.
"I'm applying for county money," she said Monday. "The commissioners had asked every agency to make a 5 percent decrease in the amount they had requested last year."