Clinic used by needy will close : News-Record.com : Greensboro & the Triad's most trusted source for local news and analysis

GREENSBORO — HealthServe Community Health Care Clinic will close one of its two Greensboro locations this month.

The clinics, part of the Triad Adult and Pediatric Medicine program, concentrate on serving the poor and uninsured. That program, begun as a partnership between Guilford County and the Moses Cone and High Point Regional hospital systems, has been facing funding problems for several years.

The county discussed lowering its annual contribution to that program in 2010 and struck a deal to contribute to the program while it sought federal funding. That funding hasn’t yet materialized, leading the clinics to petition Guilford County to continue its funding.

Chester Brown, chairman of the board of Triad Adult and Pediatric Medicine, said the closure is part of a larger plan.

“We intend to open a new and expanded location to replace this facility in order to better serve our patients and their families and providers in the next two years,” Brown said Wednesday. “We’re negotiating with the county to extend our funding, and we hope to finalize that agreement very soon.”

As of Wednesday afternoon, a sign on the door of the clinic at 1439 E. Cone Blvd. announced the site would close Feb. 27. Patients and doctors will be transferred to the program’s other Greensboro clinic, at 1002 S. Eugene St.

Last month, county leaders met with members of the program’s board, offering the same $1.5 million line of credit they put on the table in 2011.

If federal funding does come through, the county would expect the money back. If not, the program could consider it a grant.

Guilford County commissioners Chairman Melvin “Skip” Alston said he was disappointed to hear that Triad Adult and Pediatric Medicine was considering closing any of the HealthServe clinics.

He said he is worried the move was prompted by the group’s desire to take on more insured patients, serve fewer poor people, and make more money.

“We told them what we’ve been telling them, that we want to contribute to their program if it’s going to be helping the poor and the uninsured,” Alston said. “But if they’re going to be closing down clinics and changing their focus to treating more insured people to make more money, that’s about greed and money.

“ I don’t think that’s what’s on the minds of the people at Moses Cone or High Point Regional, but I think money has been the focus of some of the leaders of Triad Adult and Pediatric Medicine.”

Brian Ellerby, CEO of Triad Adult and Pediatric Medicine, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Tim Clontz, executive vice president of health services at Moses Cone, declined to comment.

Commissioner Billy Yow said the move may be a reaction to health care changes put into motion by the Obama administration.

“I think everybody’s going to have insurance soon, of some sort,” Yow said. “I think what they’re probably doing is restructuring themselves to better serve people who will have some kind of insurance when that comes about.”

But the county shouldn’t be contributing to the program, Yow said — or at the very least should only contribute with some guarantees.

“If we want them serving poor people and the uninsured, we should say that $1.5 million is something they’ll get based on helping X amount of uninsured people,” Yow said. “We haven’t done that.”

Yow said he knows the program and its clinics are employers in Guilford County, and he appreciates their creating those jobs. But, Yow said, he believes the leadership has salaries that are too high.

“When you look at what some of these people are making, you can’t see how they’re crying poor,” Yow said. “You have to wonder with some of them if it’s really about serving the people or if it’s about money.”

Contact Joe Killian at 373-7023 or joe.killian@news-record.com

buzzman

February 2, 2012 - 6:47 am EST

Business as usual - fat cats at the top making all the $$$!!! There are plenty of very capable individuals that would be willing to manage this facility at a fraction of the salary being paid. It ain't 'rocket science'!

gm28524

February 2, 2012 - 6:55 am EST

The people that use these services have nothing to do with what the administration is being paid. Correct that problem. Don't take the services away from the people who have nothing else.

arnie

February 2, 2012 - 8:06 am EST

When does the greed stop? Problem is our state is going broke, like most other states. Unfortunately the first thing that goes is the "uneeded services" .

nemo0037

February 2, 2012 - 8:18 am EST

Mitt Romney said yesterday that he doesn't worry about the poor "because they have an adequate safety net." It's stories like this that make me wonder how "adequate" that net is and how long it can last.

justified

February 2, 2012 - 8:37 am EST

Why should I crawl out of bed every morning and go to work ????
The gov. wil give me FREE food,housing,medical care,transportation,cell phone, all I would have to pay for is my cablevison .

February 2, 2012 - 9:23 am EST

Yeah, it's a high life, living in projects, having to walk to the store for food, or ride the bus, never being able to travel anywhere beyond your city limits. I would definitely recommend you consider it if you find work in ANY way unpleasant.

February 2, 2012 - 3:37 pm EST

you are right nemo, but for some it is a choice not a necessity. i could live in the project with my grandmother and drive a Esclade.

nomnomnom

February 2, 2012 - 10:01 am EST

I don't think you understand what this type of healthcare is: waiting a year for a dental appointment; needing to see an ENT doctor for years, but there are none in the area who will take a referral. I'm a patient at Healthserve. My husband works hard. We don't have cable, free housing, or free transportation. I happen to be uninsurable. God bless you justified. I would rather be able to go to work than to have suffered with what I have been dealing with for the past 30 years.

February 2, 2012 - 11:23 am EST

I wish you luck in re-adjusting "Justified's" prejudices. I'd not be optimistic. But it is good to hear from someone who knows what effect this will have from a personal, real-life perspective.

viewer discretion advised

February 2, 2012 - 8:45 am EST

Sell your food stamps to pay for your cable.

jdoe1

February 2, 2012 - 8:53 am EST

What this article fails to explain is why TAPM is closing the clinic to begin with...If they can't get funding from the county then the organization cannot afford to pay the rent and cost of the facility. It also fails to state that ALL TAPM employees (including all directors, executives, CEOs, COOs) just WILLINGLY took a 10% pay cut to try to continue to service these patients that have no where else to go. It's easy for the county to place the blame on the organization that is actually providing the service without going into detail of what the organization has done to maintain service for the uninsured that already belong to the clinics.

Joe Killian

February 2, 2012 - 9:44 am EST

I'd love to talk to the doctors about that, but have had several of them tell me they were directed by their superiors not to talk to the media about any of this.

February 2, 2012 - 9:58 am EST

talk to the doctors about what? and TAPM employees were directed not to speak to media as any company would direct their employees.

February 2, 2012 - 2:29 pm EST

As someone who has been reporting in Greensboro for a little over six years and on this beat for two of those, I can tell you that it is not a standard or a best business practice for companies to forbid their employees from talking to the media about things that are going on with the company.

If that worked, they wouldn't call and write us to talk about those things off the record -- and complain about the company trying to prevent them from commenting on it.

ajly

February 2, 2012 - 3:10 pm EST

It is very difficult to understand how our region's health systems make their decisions. Moses Cone proudly announced the opening of a $15 million cancer center a few days ago and continues to do major building projects. At the same time, the Guilford Community Care Network through which HealthServe operates (I believe) and of which Moses Cone and the County are members can't figure out solutions other than to close down one of two clinics serving the poor here in Greensboro. I believe Dr David Talbot oversaw HealthServe until recently, before this shutdown was announced. Is this also a part of the story? Finally, it's good enough for Yow and Alston to do their usual News-Record quotables. The economy has continued to be very bad here and thousands need HealthServe access. How are our local, elected officials doing anything to address real issues involving real people and real suffering? Moses Cone knows there's money to be made in this region — they wouldn't be doing all this expansion if they didn't. Let's make sure that the condition that they do business here is that they work with the County and City to expand services for the poor and needy — which is increasingly including the middle class. If CEO TIm Rice is worried about his hospital's ability to collect unpaid bills (as reported by Alan Johnson), then he should wonder what the effect of closing the HealthServe office will be. Surely it will result in more people going to Moses Cone ER out of desperation and then getting huge bills they can't pay. I strongly dislike the idea that responsible officials and decision-makers in our region are running cost-benefit analyses and deciding they can make more money in the short term if they just ignore the suffering and misery of the poor, or that they can score political points by a few choice words to the newspaper. Moses Cone boasts it has 1000 skilled physicians in its system. What's the point if these doctors cannot assist those in need?

itsjustron

February 2, 2012 - 9:08 am EST

I suppose another question to ask, is what exactly is the county doing to correct issues that leave folks poor and needy in the first place?

And is there a way to quote what these folks salary are, for this Job?

Traveler

February 2, 2012 - 9:48 am EST

In my opinion, the biggest reason people are poor is that they did not take advantage of the opportunity society gave them to get a good education.

Very few people with a good education, good job skills, are poor.

February 2, 2012 - 10:21 am EST

You should take a trip over to census.gov and see who as a group in the southeast started receiving foodstamps around 2009 to 2010. I'll give you a clue, it's not who Newt said it was; it was probably the guy Romney fired. For the record, I am not anti-education.

February 2, 2012 - 11:27 am EST

I was laid off last year from a company that was extremely profitable, and it took me 6 months to find any job, even WITH a bachelor's degree. And why was I sent packing? Because I was a mere 3 years away from being able to retire, and the company figured they could give my job to some guy living in India -- and not coincidentally free up the funds they had set aside for my "golden years" to make the CEO's "Golden Parachute" a little more "golden."

February 2, 2012 - 3:47 pm EST

Had you not worked there long enough to be vested?

February 2, 2012 - 9:18 am EST

while the counties' salaries are public and can be found via internet, TAPMs salaries were submitted to the county for them for review and make adjustments as necessary.

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