Calaveras EnterpriseFront Page Local News School News Club News Business News Sports Crime Obituaries Multimedia Place an Ad Online Lodestar Magazine Photo Galleries Columns Letters to the Editor Submit a Letter Announcements Friday, September 12, 2008 News | Sports | Classifieds | Calendar | Special Sections | Opinion | Contact Us | Local Links | Real Estate | Autos and RVs | Dining News Obits Advanced Search • Archives E-Edition E-Edition Log In News West Point clinic closes; San Andreas cuts back its service By Joel Metzger Email this story | Print this story Posted: Friday, September 12, 2008 11:01 AM CDT Up to 500 people in West Point will have to find a different location to access low-income health care while many folks in San Andreas will at least temporarily have to make due with fewer medical services. The Mariposa, Amador, Calaveras and Tuolumne Health Board Inc. clinic in West Point is no longer offering its services to local families, and has shut down as of Tuesday. “We just cannot afford to stay open due to unpaid bills and the California State Budget,” MACT executive director Nancy Ehlers said. “Even if the state budget did cover future operating costs, we haven’t paid our vendors, rent and utilities in months, not to mention employees’ wages and benefits. We have no choice.” The San Andreas medical and behavioral health clinics will function at a limited capacity until the California State budget has passed. The behavioral health clinic will be temporarily closed and “the medical portion is just taking care of chronic pain patients,” Ehlers said. After the budget is set, regular services will resume. Sonora Regional Medical Center nurse Kathy Phillips of San Andreas, has been using the MACT services for a couple of years and said, “We have to pay for everything and start all over? when you have a chronic health problem, it’s really difficult for a family to get a new doctor and start all over.” Phillips is one of many people whose lives will be significantly affected by these closures. The MACT Health Board Inc. established its central operating program location, the Tuolumne Rural Indian Health Center, in 1969. Since then, additional licensed clinics are operating out of Sonora, Jackson, West Point and Mariposa. Services have expanded since inception to include medical, dental, outreach, behavioral health and substance abuse programs. MACT services are available to all American Indians and their family members, as well as the general public in the community. Services are conducted in an atmosphere respectful and supportive to Native American traditions, values and beliefs, according to the MACT website. Owned and operated by Native American organizations, MACT health services sees everybody. It uses a sliding fee scale and provides service to people with no insurance. When using a sliding fee scale, individuals with very low incomes pay less for a service than someone who has a greater income. Sliding fee scales are primarily based on income, though doctors will take into consideration other determining factors such as family size. There is no guarantee that a service fee based on a sliding scale will actually be affordable to everyone. “We take third-party money, and 76 percent of the patient cap are Medi-Cal patients and Healthy Children, which pays even less than Medi-Cal,” Ehlers said. “Some people received their services at up to an 85 percent discount.” The West Point center had been open for 10 years, according to Ehlers, and averaged about 25 patients daily on the 20 days it was open each month. West Point patients will have to travel to other MACT facilities in either Jackson or San Andreas. With the closure of this clinic, at least seven West Point employees lost their jobs. “There were 130 employees working for MACT, but after these recent cutbacks, we are now down to only 26,” Ehlers said. “Everybody is being affected, regardless of what their income is,” Phillips said. “I see people, what happens when they don’t have a place they can go, a doctor-they end up coming to the emergency room.” Contact Joel Metzger at jmetzger@calaverasenterprise.com. Krissi Krob contributed to this story. Comment (No comments posted.) Comments are posted after review by the Web master. They represent the opinion of the commenting party. While we encourage them as a way to further community discussion of important public topics, we reserve the right to reject or edit them. How do I find my comments later? Articles change daily on our Web site. Please make a note of the title of the article you have commented on. If you wish to read other people comments, once the article is taken down, do an archive search by title to locate the comments that apply to that story. We appreciate your comments and participation on our Web site. Please refrain from attaching links that go to unrelated sites as these will not be posted. In order to post comments you will also need to provide your full name and the city or town of your mailing address (such as "Murphys, CA.")in the boxes below. We are requiring the same information for internet postings as letters to the editor in the Enterprise to ensure that each writer takes personal responsibility for what they say in this public forum. The Calaveras Enterprise is not responsible for statements, advice or opinions offered by anyone other than authorized Calaveras Enterprise spokespersons. Comments are limited to 200 words or less. Name: City or Town: (optional) Comments: Current Word Count: Image Verification: Poll Would you like to comment on this poll question? Click Here Stocks Symbol Lookup NSDQ NYSE S&P 500 NSDQ2261.27 +3.05(+0.14%) NYSE8091.84 +80.59(+1.01%) S&P 5001251.70 +2.65(+0.21%) AMEX1905.75 +28.52(+1.52%) RUS 2K720.26 +1.26(+0.18%) Crude Oil100.80 -0.07(-0.07%) 30YR Yield4.31 +0.10(+2.38%) Quotes delayed at least 20 mins. Market Summary Market Movers My Watchlist Copyright © 2008 Calaveras Enterprise 15 N. Main Street, P.O. Box 1197, San Andreas, CA 95249